Understanding quality of life and well-being of older people - Case studies of China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

应对人口迅速老龄化带来的挑战，特别是在中低收入国家，需要清楚地了解影响老年人福祉和生活质量的因素。次级数据的比较分析有可能突出良好政策实践的结果，并阐明为实现这一目的，哪些政策改革和数据改进是必不可少的。拟议的研究将对生活在中国、印度、巴基斯坦和孟加拉国的老年人进行次级数据分析。选择这些国家的原因是，这些国家的老龄化速度将相当快：到2050年，60岁及以上人口的比例将增加一倍以上。此外，这些国家代表着不同的政策制度，鉴于过去留下的遗产，在处理老龄化和老龄问题的政策制定方面有很大的相互学习潜力。这项研究将以国际助老协会和国际助老会在构建2013年全球老年观察指数方面所做的工作为基础，并将作出独特的贡献，不仅将促进关于老龄和老年人问题的科学比较研究，而且(通过联合编写知识)将通过专家和利益攸关方的参与以及通过在研究的不同阶段通过网络和媒体传播，实现政策和从业人员的高度影响。目前形式的全球老年观察指数仅利用国际数据库中提供的数据来统计全国老年人的幸福感水平。该项目将进一步阐明这些国家内部的差异，以及可以从国家数据集中计算出哪些额外的指标，为衡量老年人的能力和脆弱性概念提供进一步的见解。通过使用六个最相关的人口和社会经济属性(年龄、性别、教育程度、居住安排以及城乡差别等区域)对这些指标进行分类，研究将突出这些属性中的哪些对老年人的生活质量和福祉的具体方面特别重要。通过分析在这些国家执行的不同政策的主要特点，特别是在社会保护、保健、社会保健和扶持性环境方面，分析将显示不同的政策环境如何与不同的结果相联系，指出可以强调的良好政策做法，供这四个国家和其他国家审议。以上对次级数据的分析将与国际助老会联合进行，国际助老会在与各国政府接触进行研究和方案拟订方面具有丰富经验(例如，见Khondker等人)。2013年；ERB 2011年；Vilela 2013年)。国家利益攸关方协商以及在国际会议上介绍结果将向学术和非学术受益者、国家和国际利益攸关方、研究人员和统计界提供关键结论。这项研究的主要结论的传播还将帮助其他区域的专家和利益攸关方指导他们与各国政府就以下问题进行的讨论：老龄政策；数据收集和改进；国家和国际机构之间的合作以整理和分享现有数据；以及如何有效地利用所产生的证据执行政策。加维的未来发展和该项目产生的更广泛使用，也将揭示参与2015年后可持续发展框架的政策制定者日益关注的各个方面，如不平等、消除持续贫困、实现全民健康覆盖和通过社会保护最低标准扩大社会保护。

Policy responses to challenges linked with rapid population ageing, especially in middle and low income countries, require a clear understanding of the factors that influence the well-being and quality of life of older people. Comparative analysis of secondary data has the potential to highlight outcomes of good policy practices and illuminate what policy reforms and data improvements are essential for this purpose.The study proposed will undertake secondary data analysis of older people living in China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The choice of these countries is driven by the fact that the speed of ageing in these countries will be considerably fast: the proportion of the population aged 60 and over will be more than double by 2050. Also, these countries represent different policy regimes and, given past legacies, there is strong potential for mutual learning in policy making to address the issues of ageing and the aged. The research will build upon the work undertaken by the PI and HelpAge International in constructing the Global AgeWatch Index 2013, and will make a unique contribution that will achieve not just the promotion of scientific comparative research on issues of ageing and older people, but also (through joint production of knowledge) it will achieve high levels of policy and practitioners impact, through engagement of experts and stakeholders and through web and media dissemination at various stages of the research. The Global AgeWatch Index in its current form captures only the national levels of well-being of older people with data that is available in international databases. The project will shed further light on differentials within these countries, and what additional indicators can be computed from the national datasets providing further insights about the measurement of concepts of capabilities and vulnerabilities of older people. Through disaggregation of these indicators using the six most pertinent demographic and socio-economic attributes (age, gender, educational attainment, living arrangements, and regions such as rural/urban distinction), the study will highlight which of these attributes are particularly important for specific aspects of the quality of life and well-being of older people. By analysing key features of different policies operating in these countries, particularly with respect to social protection, health, social care and the enabling environments, the analysis will show how different policy settings can be linked to differential outcomes pointing to good policy practices that can be emphasised for the consideration of these four and other countries.The above analyses of secondary data will be undertaken jointly with HelpAge International, which has substantive experience of engagement with the national governments for research and programming (see, for instance, Khondker et al. 2013; Erb 2011; Vilela 2013). National stakeholder consultations as well as presentation of the results in international conferences will deliver the key findings to academic and non-academic beneficiaries, to national and international stakeholders, and to researchers as well as statistical communities. The dissemination of key findings from this study will also help experts and stakeholders in other regions to guide their discussion with governments regarding policies on ageing; data collection and improvements; cooperation among national and international institutions to collate and share existing data; and how the evidence generated can be used effectively for policy implementation. The future development of the GAWI and its wider use, arising from the project, will also shed a light on dimensions of growing concern to policy makers engaged in the post 2015 sustainable development framework, such as inequalities, eliminating persistent poverty, achieving universal health coverage and extending social protection through the social protection floor.