We are now delivering increasing numbers of AgeWise workshops. Our open sessions, where people can attend on a 'per person' basis are proving very popular among staff new to the area of ageing and those who are looking at different ways of tackling age discrimination in their sector.

It was on the morning of one of these sessions when media coverage hit about Taro Aso, the Japanese Deputy Prime Minister, who encouraged his country's older people to "hurry up and die" due to his concern about the State potentially having to pay for their medical care. While making offensive statements seems to be his style, it does reveal a certain underlying assumption that is not reflected in the reality of most older people's lives.

Aso may not be at an AgeWise workshop any time soon but we know that there are people making plans, taking decisions and delivering services based on that same idea that being older is somehow only meaningful in medical terms and that the purpose of older age is only as a prelude to death and not as a vital and potentially productive and rewarding part of life.

There are now almost 30 million people over the age of 65 living in Japan (about 23% of the total population). Japan is already experiencing the increased percentage of older people in the population that many countries across Europe are expecting to experience in the coming twenty years. Outmoded ways of thinking about older people and ageing, which we can see in Aso's disturbing statement, are of no practical benefit to a world that now must adapt to this unprecedented shift in demographics.

Our next open AgeWise session is on our Marino campus on Tuesday, 9 April at 10am. Book your place on agewise.eventbrite.ie or talk to Fiona on 01 805 7798 on having AgeWise delivered in your workplace.