TEHRAN — With older adults already accounting for 13 percent of Iran’s population and the country’s fertility rate continuing to decline, demographic shifts are accelerating. Current projections indicate that within the next 25 years, nearly one-third of Iran’s population will be aged 60 and above.

Iran is aging, and this demographic shift will place significant pressure on the healthcare system, pension funds, social support agencies, and the national economy. To prevent the consequences of an aging population, the country is pursuing policies aimed at boosting the youth population and incentives for childbearing.

Aging is a natural process of the life cycle, but the way society approaches this life phase today will shape the living conditions of future generations.

An aging population entails more than just an increased demand for healthcare services; the rising number of elderly individuals also drives a growing need for care services, rehabilitation, home-based care, environmental adaptations, and social welfare services, which will alter the pension system and pose serious challenges to it.

Demographic shifts make action more urgent than ever. Actions need to be taken now to be able to address the livelihood and well-being of the elderly in the years to come. The interval between the current situation and advanced aging offers an opportunity for policymaking and structural reform; failing to act would result in consequences that are significantly more challenging to address.

According to Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi, the secretary of the National Population Headquarters, the young population is one of the indicators that has to be paid attention to. The young population is the share of the population aged less than 15 years old. In Iran, it forms 21.5 percent of the total population, that is 21.5 out of 100 individuals is below 15, currently. However, it is declining with falling birth-rates.

Fortunately, Iran is in a population window of opportunity – a period when a large proportion of the population is of working age, the country has 15 to 20 years before the demographic window began to close.

Alireza Raeisi, an official with the health ministry, says that “Population decline is itself a consequence rather than a cause; therefore, to reverse the trend, the various economic, social, cultural, and familial factors that have led to reduced fertility must be identified, analyzed, and addressed. Furthermore, even if we succeed in increasing the population, we must bear in mind that population aging is inevitable.”

The head of the Welfare Organization, Seyed Javad Hosseini, highlights that “aging is a social problem. If we fail to address the issue of aging today, we will face complex social crises in the future; however, with strategic planning, aging can create new opportunities in employment and the economy.”

Referring to the concept of the ‘silver economy’, the system of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services aimed at using the purchasing potential of older and ageing people and satisfying their consumption, living, and health needs, Hosseini added that as the aging population grows, their health care needs grow, which means elderly care is one of the fastest-growing and most sustainable employment opportunities globally, and Iran, too, should capitalize on this potential to enhance its economy and improve the quality of life for the elderly.

Measures taken to empower older adults

The Welfare Organization is planning to train consultants on aging or aging life care professionals. It has launched community-based rehabilitation (CBR) projects in less privileged and remote areas where access to welfare services is limited. Social workers receive a 20-hour training to start their jobs as facilitators in these centers. The project has so far covered 95 percent of the rural areas, and is planned to cover 30 percent of urban areas, as well.

According to Hosseini, the Welfare Organization has validated some 300 elderly day-care centers in cooperation with the national standard organization, and it is planning to establish new elderly service centers such as the elderly villages and elderly social health towns.

Prevention of disability in old age, home rehabilitation, home care services, and livelihood assistance for the elderly with severe disabilities are among other programs of the organization

The National Council of the Elderly has approved 18 strategic plans on aging to help improve the status of older adults.

These strategic plans include the development of age-friendly communities, formal and informal caregivers, neighborhood welfare programs, the bill to defend the rights of the elderly, amendment of executive regulations for organizing elderly affairs, training experts in aging, time bank, elderly data management dashboard, modern aging centers, elderly tourism, employment of the elderly, aging economy document, expansion of science and technology in aging, aging literacy, empowerment of single elderly women, long-term care insurance, and national survey.

The plans aim at boosting physical and mental health, social empowerment, improving the quality of care services, preventing harm, educating and developing culture and infrastructure, as well as enhancing the participation of older people.

Moreover, 19 cities in the country have so far taken necessary measures to develop age-friendly communities.

MT/MG