Iran (IMNA) - Zohreh Shanazari, a faculty member in the Department of Exercise Physiology at the University of Isfahan, emphasized the need to reconsider prevailing attitudes toward aging, saying that one of the most important changes should be a shift from a predominantly support-oriented approach to a capital-based perspective on older adults.
“Older adults undoubtedly require social, welfare and healthcare support in certain areas,” Shanazari said. “However, if all policies are designed around the assumption that older adults are merely recipients of services, a significant part of society’s human potential will be overlooked.”
She noted that human capital extends far beyond individuals’ physical capabilities and includes knowledge, experience, skills, analytical abilities, professional expertise and social networks. Many of these capacities, she explained, reach a high level of maturity through decades of personal and professional experience.
Decades of experience can benefit younger generations
Shanazari pointed to retired university professors, teachers, physicians, industrial managers, entrepreneurs and other professionals as examples of people who possess decades of accumulated knowledge and practical experience.
“A retired professional may have decades of experience that can create value for younger generations,” she said. “If this knowledge and experience are not transferred to the next generation, society may be forced to repeat many processes through trial and error.”
According to the academic, structured mechanisms for knowledge transfer can play an important role in preserving expertise and improving younger generations' capacity to address professional and social challenges.
She highlighted approaches such as mentoring and master-apprentice models, which have been adopted in various successful organizations around the world. Under such models, experienced employees and retirees can share their professional knowledge and practical experience with younger workers.
Such intergenerational knowledge transfer, she said, can contribute not only to greater productivity but also to stronger organizational identity and social capital.
Older adults as carriers of cultural and historical capital
Shanazari also emphasized that the contribution of older adults extends beyond the family environment and includes the preservation and transmission of cultural and historical capital.
“Every society possesses cultural and historical capital, and older adults are among its most important carriers,” she said.
She stressed that transferring experience is not limited to recounting memories of the past. It can also involve passing on approaches to problem-solving, professional ethics, a sense of responsibility and an understanding of social processes.
From this perspective, older adults can serve as an important bridge between generations, helping younger people gain access to knowledge that may not be available through formal education alone.
Intergenerational connections can strengthen social resilience
The academic further argued that older adults can contribute to preserving cultural identity, strengthening social cohesion and transmitting ethical and national values.
“A society that maintains connections between generations has greater capacity to withstand cultural fragmentation, social challenges and identity crises,” she said.
Maintaining meaningful relationships between younger and older generations can therefore be viewed as an important component of social resilience. Intergenerational interaction provides opportunities for knowledge exchange while helping communities preserve continuity in their cultural and social experiences.
Shanazari stressed, however, that adopting a capital-based approach to aging does not mean disregarding the support needs of older adults.
Rather, she said, social protection should be combined with opportunities for participation and meaningful contribution.
From social exclusion to meaningful participation
Shanazari concluded that aging should not be regarded as synonymous with withdrawal from social life.
Instead, she called for the creation of appropriate opportunities for older adults to participate in knowledge transfer, education, volunteer activities and broader forms of civic and social engagement.
“Older age should not be considered synonymous with being removed from the social cycle,” she said, emphasizing that the substantial capacities accumulated by older generations can be mobilized in ways that benefit society as a whole.
Such an approach would allow older adults to remain active contributors to community life while enabling younger generations to benefit from their accumulated knowledge, professional expertise and lived experience.
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