Highlights of European Research on Ageing through a Latvian Lens

The Social Innovation Centre (SIC) synthesised six significant European and international reports published between 2020 and 2024 to provide evidence-based insights into ageing, specifically for small organisations in Latvia. The primary objective is to equip these entities with robust information to inform their program designs without the need for independent, primary research.

This research synthesis (download here) reveals a “Latvian lens” on ageing, highlighting a critical 11.1-year healthy life years deficit and the EU’s highest elder depression rates at 18–22%. While Latvian seniors stay in the workforce at rates above the EU average, this is largely driven by an extreme 41.2% elder poverty rate rather than an enabling environment. With public long-term care spending at just 0.6% of GDP—significantly below the 1.7% EU average—the report identifies chronic loneliness (affecting 34% of seniors) as a primary public health emergency equivalent to the impact of smoking.

To address these pressures, the Social Innovation Centre advocates for a paradigm shift from managing disease to strengthening “intrinsic capacity,” focusing specifically on the high-leverage 60–70 age window. Recommendations include formalizing support for informal caregivers, scaling community-level social infrastructure, and adopting region-specific designs for areas like Latgale to combat geographic inequality. Ultimately, the goal is to move older adults from “forced participation” to genuine active ageing through evidence-based, technology-enhanced human care.