Although the active ageing concept generally has positive connotations, with expected benefits at the micro, meso and macro levels, the application of this concept in terms of policy making presents challenges and risks to be avoided (for instance, a predominantly productivist interpretation and a top-down imposition with limited possibilities for bottom-up exchanges; or a disregard for the risk of excluding older people with more disadvantaged backgrounds). Two crucial strategies to minimise risks are the implementation of policies by considering and respecting territorial diversity, and the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders in a participatory consultative and co-decisional approach. This paper entwines both strategies together by focusing on Italian in-country differences in terms of active ageing, and employing the Active Ageing Index for policy-making purposes. This activity is part of a governmental national pilot project aimed at promoting multilevel co-managed co-ordination of active ageing policies across Italy. The analysis identified five groups of regions that differ from the classical, geographic and socio-economic division between the North, Centre and South. Additional in-group analyses were conducted to investigate within-cluster differences. This study will inform a large multilevel stakeholder network for evidence-based policies and their monitoring at both the national and regional levels, in line with the perspective of mainstreaming ageing.

Active Ageing is conceptualised to measure the extent to which older people remain actively engaged with life. However, there is no evidence that the concept of Active Ageing is actually associated with the activity levels of older persons. Influences of age, ethnicity and spirituality on Active Ageing are also unexplored. Using the Active Ageing Index (AAI), this study examines whether the level of Active Ageing predicted the actual activity level of 120 Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay and Indians ethnicities, aged 55–64 years old or 65 years and above. Spirituality, measured by the Spirituality Index of Well-Being, was added to the AAI, to see if the predictive power of AAI improved. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that the AAI alone (controlling for age) did not significantly predict the activity level of older persons. The predictive power of the AAI improved significantly with spirituality included. Two-way between-groups Analysis of Variance revealed main effects of age and ethnicity, with higher AAI in those aged 55–64 and in Indian-Singaporeans. These findings suggest that the theoretical construct of Active Ageing needs further examination to identify the domains that distinguish it from chronological age, and support broadening the construct by including spirituality in Active Ageing.