Date: 2008-11-20
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Gerald C. Davison, dean of the USC Davis School of Gerontology, traveled to Dubai to participate in a distinguished council on aging as part of an international summit hosted by the World Economic Forum. Based in Geneva, the independent organization is dedicated to engaging world leaders on pressing global issues.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Gerald C. Davison, dean of the USC Davis School of Gerontology, traveled to Dubai to participate in a distinguished council on aging as part of an international summit hosted by the World Economic Forum.
Based in Geneva, the independent organization is dedicated to engaging world leaders on pressing global issues.
The three-day day conference, held Nov. 7-9, was billed as the Global Agenda Summit.
Meetings brought together handpicked councils, each made up of 15 to 30 worldwide leaders focusing on such issues as climate change, financial risk, fragile states, chronic disease and malnutrition.
Davison participated as a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Challenges of Gerontology.
Gerontology Council members met for several hours in discussions on the status of older adults around the world and possible solutions to the challenges and opportunities presented by an increasingly aging global population.
High-profile people at the conference included Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, with whom Davison spoke regarding respect and dignity issues of older adults.
Of the 700 delegates in attendance, three other USC faculty members were present, including Elizabeth Daley, dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Jennifer Wolch, professor of geography and urban planning, and Detlof von Winterfeldt, director of the Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events.
“This was a strong representation for the university at this unique international meeting,” Davison said.
A top priority for the Gerontology Council was to dispel damaging myths such as the existence of intergenerational warfare, the association of aging with inevitable decline and decay in all domains, and the widespread belief that we are headed toward economic disaster because of the rising number of elders.
A world with an older population can be one of unprecedented opportunity, according to the council’s findings. First, aging populations represent potential resources that are currently untapped or underutilized. Second, a larger older population offers new and unique economic opportunities. Third, the extension of healthy life begets wealth.
“Extension of healthy lifespan can yield many economic and humanitarian dividends,” Davison said. “There is untapped human capital that can be harnessed by increased longevity.”
In order to achieve this goal and reduce the risk of negative global consequences, the Gerontology Council proposed a series of global directions that included a new health system that encourages healthy living and ameliorates chronic diseases and conditions; redesigning living and work spaces to support healthy aging; encouraging financial security for older people; changing the current retirement paradigm; and investing in lifelong learning.