The strengths and opportunities of ageing and the ageing population Silver empowerment is a valuable paradigm to improve care and support systems for older persons. It aims to counteract the dominant image of ageing, which is all too often one of decline, dependency and vulnerability, and rather sees ageing and the ageing population as a challenge that opens up new opportunities. By focusing on the strengths and connections of older persons, silver empowerment strives for an inclusive, age-friendly society that will allow everyone to grow old with dignity and meaning. In this book, leading academics from a variety of disciplines discuss ways to enhance the empowerment of older persons in practice. Covering a wide range of topics such as resilience, loneliness, community-based care, the interplay between formal and informal care, the inclusion of older persons’ perspectives in research and care, and empowering policy, Silver Empowerment is of interest to academics, policy makers and practitioners interested in empowerment and care and support systems for older persons. Silver empowerment is a valuable paradigm to improve care and support systems for older persons. It aims to counteract the dominant image of ageing, which is all too often one of decline, dependency and vulnerability, and rather sees ageing and the ageing population as a challenge that opens up new opportunities. By focusing on the strengths and connections of older persons, silver empowerment strives for an inclusive, age-friendly society that will allow everyone to grow old with dignity and meaning. In this book, leading academics from a variety of disciplines discuss ways to enhance the empowerment of older persons in practice. Covering a wide range of topics such as resilience, loneliness, community-based care, the interplay between formal and informal care, the inclusion of older persons’ perspectives in research and care, and empowering policy, Silver Empowerment is of interest to academics, policy makers and practitioners interested in empowerment and care and support systems for older persons. Preface An introduction to Silver Empowerment Jasper De Witte & Tine Van Regenmortel Chapter 1. An empowerment perspective on older persons: The power of resilience Tine Van Regenmortel & Jasper De Witte Chapter 2. The economic cost of the loneliness of older persons Jozef Pacolet, Gregorio Rodríguez Cabrero, Simón Sosvilla-Rivero Chapter 3. An empowerment perspective on loneliness among older persons Jasper De Witte & Tine Van Regenmortel Chapter 4. The importance of neighbourhood-oriented care for the quality of life and empowerment of older persons Leen Heylen Chapter 5. An interplay of formal and informal care : Strengths and challenges from an empowerment perspective Benedicte De Koker, Leen Heylen, Dimitri Mortelmans & Anja Declercq Chapter 6. Merits of critical moments of disempowerment : Iterative practices of empowerment and disempowerment during participatory action research with older persons as co-researchers Elena Bendien, Susan Woelders, Tineke Abma Chapter 7. Enhancing person-centred care to enable older persons to be involved in long-term care M.M. Janssen, K.G. Luijkx, A. Scheffelaar, A. Stoop Chapter 8. Silver Empowerment: Towards empowering policy, practice and research Katrien Steenssens, Tine Van Regenmortel & Jasper De Witte Afterword Tine Van Regenmortel & Jasper De Witte About the authors