Mission: To share friendship and best practices for Active Aging
ACAP is a voluntary, information-sharing body, open to people of all ages, abilities, and disciplines. Members are gerontologists, geriatricians, and educators from more than 40 countries, primarily in the Asia Pacific region, dedicated to empowering older adults to maintain their physical, social, psychological, civic, economic, and environmental fitness so that they can continue to contribute to their families, their communities, and society at large.
ACAP members believe that achieving an active aging society requires a partnership of individuals, families, and social policy leaders. Specifically, individuals and families must prepare for old age and adopt positive practices for long life. Societal norms must encourage and reward participation of elders in work, education, volunteering, and family life. Social policy must offer protections, promote lifelong learning, make healthy choices the easy choices, and lead to the building age-friendly environments. Policy efforts should support the prevention on diseases and disability, from pre-conception throughout the life course, understanding that healthy babies and healthy youth are more likely to grow into healthy older adults than unhealthy babies and youth. Policy should guide societies in keeping older people free from poverty, homelessness, and abuse. Policy should encompass all older people, including those who are frail and dependent. It should support the building of age-friendly environments that can accommodate people living with disease and disability and support older adults in a variety of activities—from leisure and creative activities to family, volunteer, work, civic, and spiritual activities. An active aging ethic supports intergenerational engagement and the transfer of skills and knowledge to strengthen communities for all ages.
