コロナ・パンデミックの経験に現れたイタリア人女性のアクティブ・エイジング概念 = The Concept of Active Aging Among Italian Women as Reflected in the Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The year 2012 was designated as the 'European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations' to achieve a high quality of life for everyone by enhancing the potential of older people. In Italy, a super-aged society, a three-year action plan introducing active ageing policies focusing on elderly people's active participation in all fields finally started in 2019. The pandemic, however, abruptly stopped the action plan and the elderly returned to be categorised as a vulnerable social group needing protection. In this context, elderly women who had been engaged in volunteer activities experienced the inefficacies of the active ageing policies. This paper discusses the experience of elderly women in Italy and discusses their efforts to move away from the homogeneous category of 'elderly' and work toward achieving new forms of engagement in the post-COVID-19 society.