Bridging the gap: Maintaining information exchange on ageing

As pointed out in Article 106 of The Vienna International Plan of Action on Aging, the exchange of information and experience at the international level is an effective means of stimulating progress and encouraging the adoption of measures to respond to the economic and social implications of population ageing. Research, which will inform policy and planning for an ageing population, is becoming more and more a priority if we do not want events to overcome history. This is the more so in developing countries where the majority of the world's elderly live. Moreover, there is a growing awareness in favour of cross-national research. The very motto of the 1997 IAG World Congress of Gerontology, namely: Ageing Beyond 2000: One World One Future, clearly stresses the growing need of overcoming cultural, economic, social and political boundaries in all matters concerning ageing. In this context, research, and particularly the widest dissemination of research, is of paramount importance. Consequently, it needs to be better co-ordinated and more focused. More attention needs to be given to the design of programs and their evaluation against specific and objective criteria and within the framework of relevant internationally agreed instruments. In spite of this, however, researchers are becoming more and more aware of the existence of a number of conceptual and practical barriers in the gathering, analysis and dissemination of research results both at the national and international levels. There exists a lack of standardised definitions, terminologies and research methodologies. This gap needs to be bridged.