“The pandemic has reinforced the importance of the elderly being able to be autonomous for longer”

“The pandemic has reinforced the importance of the elderly being able to be autonomous for longer”

When the topic is healthy aging, “the focus is not on wanting people to live to the age of 150, but on having a shorter and shorter period of dependence at the end of their lives”, emphasizes Cláudia Cavadas, the vice-rector of University of Coimbra, which admits the institution’s commitment to taking the lead in research in this field.

Chosen by the United Nations with the theme for this decade (2021-2030), in view of the urgent challenges raised by the accelerated aging of the world’s population, the concept of healthy aging was discussed this week in a forum co-organized by the United Kingdom Embassy in Lisbon and the University of Coimbra, whose vice-rector, Cláudia Cavadas, spoke to DN about the research paths in this area.