“POLSENIOR” IS A COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMME WHICH WILL PROVIDE DATA ON THE HEALTH AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION OF THE OLDEST GROUP OF SOCIETY

implemented under publicly-funded project no. PBZ-MEIN-9/2/2006
(Medical, psychological, sociological and economic aspects of aging in Poland)

A competition announced by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MEIN) attracted eighteen proposals, of which six were accepted for implementation. Four of these proposals were research projects concerning medical and social aspects of the lives of the elderly in Poland. The “PolSenior” project also includes two smaller-scale projects – one concerning the physical activity of the oldest segment of our society, the other concerning the housing status of this group.
This is the first time that the population of the elderly is to be researched so thoroughly. (Previous research projects, such as “Polska starość” (Polish Old Age) or “WOBASZ Senior”, covered a considerably narrower scope of issues). The execution of this research project, the largest ever research project concerning the senior population, will require the involvement of a number of institutions and suppliers, and their extensive research data will be recorded in a shared database.

The research budget is capped at PLN 12 million. This amount is below the limit originally requested by the project’s authors and will restrict the project’s execution to some extent, relative to the original plans.

It should be emphasized here that the Medical Science Unit attached to the MEIN, which provides an opinion on the projects previously reviewed, based the allocation of funds to the project on the creation of a single, consistent research project out of the six which had qualified for the programme. The project described here incorporates all the main issues submitted by individual teams. Thanks to the cooperation of all research centres and experts in many fields, the “PolSenior” project encompasses diverse research disciplines concerning the aging process in the Polish society.