Area for more research

It was not possible to include every topic of importance in the road map. The following important area for future research was submitted to us by Emanuele Scafato at the ISS, Italy.

Alcohol and Ageing

Research on clinical intervention should include a full evaluation and comparison of the most cost-effective practice linked to the primary health care sector dealing with the main determinants of diseases in terms of morbidity, disability and mortality such as alcohol, tobacco, diet and physical activity that have been demonstrated to cause more than the 80% of the chronic disease burden in the population. Epidemiological longitudinal studies should receive support in order to identify the predictors of the onset of the most common diseases all over EU such as Alzheimers disease and dementia, cerebrocardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Main research questions for the future include:

• Is alcohol over the life course important for healthy ageing? What is the impact of different drinking patterns in later life?

• Are there gender differences in the way alcohol influences or affect healthy ageing?

• How do alcohol and pharmacological interventions interact in healthy ageing and how can early identification and brief intervention help in decrease morbidity, mortality and disability?

• How do socio-economic factors or changes in welfare and health investment inhibit healthy ageing?

• How to ensure that epidemiological studies on older people are supported and their results taken into account in the form of policies aimed at healthy ageing?