GeroPsychology -: An applied field for the 21st century

Europe is the oldest continent in the world; in the year 2000, about 17% of Europeans (EU-15) were older than 65, and projections say that in the year 2025 one-fourth of the European population will have reached this age. Nevertheless, the threat to the population is not aging but disability, although life expectancy at birth is about 80, the expected number of years with disability runs from 5.7 to 7.2 years (WHO, 2002). The United Nations recently approved the II International Plan of Action (MIPAA, UN, 2002) with special recommendation for the European region. This situation is highly demanding both for the science of psychology and for European psychologists. This article introduces a set of research programs - linked with the three priority directions of the MIPAA - as examples of how psychology is one of the disciplines calling for improved quality of life and well-being in old age and, therefore, GeroPsychology as an applied field should be consolidated in the next decades.