Aha! is a short and funny exclamation that everybody uses when they suddenly understand or find something. The Aha Experience comes to us like a thunder after the light of an insight, together like a miracle.
Aha is also a new acronym for Active and Healthy Ageing that we can represent it borrowing the classical Taijitu in order to understand the New Paradigm of Ageing that means just living. As Harry Potter’s readers know “A circle has no beginning nor end”.
In other words, Life is like a Merry Go Round that must be enjoyed until arrives the get off. And the energy of game comes from health and activity in all stages of people’s life. No matter if they are young, adults or elder.
In 1995, the World Health Organization (WHO) renamed its “Health of the Elderly Programme” to “Ageing and Health”. That was a turning point and meant an important change in direction. As it is explained in the “Ageing Policy Framework”:
“Rather than compartmentalizing older people, the new name embraced a life course perspective: we are all ageing and the best way to ensure good health for future cohorts of older people is by preventing diseases and promoting health throughout the life course. Conversely, the health of those now in older age can only be fully understood if the life events they have gone through are taken into consideration.”
In 2002, WHO published “Active Ageing”, a document that offers a framework for action addressed to policy makers. The main purpose was to provide a roadmap for designing multisectoral active ageing policies which enhances health and participation among ageing population.
The document sets out the three pillars of a policy framework for Active Ageing: Participation, Health and Security.
MyMate builds upon the three UN’s Active Ageing pillars, providing an up to date technology to deal with participation, health and security.
MyMate has been conceived to help Care Centers and Caregivers in their provision of services to elder people. It is fully aligned with recognition of the value of volunteering, thereby, MyMate intends to collaborate on increasing the opportunities to be involved in meaningful volunteer activities as people age.