ABSTRACT
Approved in 2002, the vision of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) was to ratify an intrepid new strategy to address ageing on an international scale. To do so, the adopters envisioned three priority areas related to growing old in the bold and then-new 21st century: promoting older persons and development, advancing health and well-being into old age, and ensuring and enabling supportive environments in which to grow old. An important provision of the MIPAA was to conduct a periodic and systematic review of its implementation by relying upon representatives from member states to measure its success in improving the quality of life of older persons around the globe. The purpose of this chapter is to summarise and assess successes and challenges faced by implementing prominent national legislation and policy in both Canada and the USA in order to understand the progress of each in reaching these goals. In addition to a review of the progress in North America, the authors will identify opportunities for continuing the implementation of MIPAA goals into the future.
