Aging and disability: the need of a bridge to promote wellbeing

In the last decades, there has been a progressive ageing of the population, known as “demographic revolution” or “demographic transition”. Because of the worldwide progressive ageing of population and of the increasing of general life expectancy, the relationship between ageing and disability became a very important one and received a huge interest in research and in socio-sanitary organizations. The aim of this paper is to analyze this relationship and to discuss consequences on participation, inclusion and quality of life of ageing people, according to recent conceptual models of disability and active ageing. A Narrative review of the literature on ageing and disability was undertaken. Search was based on the following electronic databases: PubMed/Medline and Ovid/Psych INFO. A combination of the following keywords was used: (1) “ageing” or “aging” and (2) “disability”. Data on the relationship between ageing and disability are discussed according to models proposed by the selected articles.