The University of Navarra and IDEA, business specialized in the promotion and management of social and health centers and services, have launched the Chair IDEA of New Longevities, with the goal to respond to outstanding challenges of demographic aging. It is part of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) and is within the line 'work,care and development' of the Strategy 2025 of the academic center.

The agreement was signed between Paloma Grau, Vice President of research of the University of Navarra, and Rafael Sánchez-Ostiz, CEO of IDEA. Also attending the signature were the members of the committee: Ana Marta González, ICS researcher and director of the Chair; Isabel García Ipiens, deputy director of IDEA; Cristina Patier, director of Human Resources of IDEA; Antonio Moreno Ibáñez, professor of the School of Economics and Business Sciences; Carolina Montoro, professor of the School of Philosophy and Letters; and Elena Belzunce, director of development of the ICS.

issue According to data of the European Commission for 2021, over the next 30 years, the number of people over 65 years of age will increase by 41% to 130 million. Furthermore, 38.1 million people are expected to need long-term care by 2050. This implies challenges such as access, affordability and quality of care, as well as the qualification of staff involved in the provision of these services or the sustainability of protection systems.

Scientific publications and transfer activities

Taking into account this context, the new Chair aims, on the one hand, to identify elderly care needs, including self-care, in order to design economically and socially sustainable service or resource delivery models. On the other hand, it aims to analyze the possibilities and meaning of this phase of human life in order to develop the concept of 'meaningful aging' from a perspective of solidarity between generations.

"This is an interdisciplinary research that, while delving into the human dimensions of work and care, remains attentive to the impact of social and cultural changes in the lives of the elderly, in dialogue with professionals in the care sector," said Ana Marta Gonzalez.

The Chair has a more philosophical and cultural part, aimed at inducing a paradigm shift in the approach to work or senior talent, and a more partner health and applied part, aimed at influencing public policies in the care sector. The results of the research will be materialized in scientific publications and in knowledge dissemination and transfer activities, such as conferences, guides and a course aimed at the general public.