This handbook brings together 30 contributions from leading international scholars examining ageing, health and care systems, active ageing, well-being, social participation, digitalisation, inequality, and contemporary challenges. As part of the Palgrave Handbooks of Social Problems series, the volume explores the social dimensions of ageing across local, national, and global contexts. The contributions address ageing from macro, meso, and micro perspectives, providing valuable insights into the changing experiences and conditions of later life around the world. Offering diverse theoretical, empirical, and policy perspectives, it serves as an essential reference for researchers, students, practitioners, and policymakers across the social sciences. It will also be of interest to practitioners and professionals working in community development, human services, and ageing-related fields, making it a valuable reference for educational programmes and research on social problems globally.

Rajendra Baikady is a Social Work educator and researcher. He is the winner of Golda Meir Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (2019-2020) and Confucius Studies Understanding China Fellowship (Post-Doctoral Research) at Shandong University Peoples Republic of China (2018-2019).

Sajid S.M is Professor and former Pro-Vice Chancellor, Department of Social Work, Jamia Milia Islamia New, Delhi India.

Jaroslaw Przeperski is Director Centre for Family Research and adjunct professor in the Social Work Department, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun Poland. He is also an expert on family matters in the Polish Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy.

Varoshini Nadesan is resident: Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions and a lecturerat the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa.

M. Rezaul Islam is Professor in Social Work, Department of Public Health, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh 

Gao Jianguo is a Professor and former Head in the Department of Social Work, School of Philosophy and Social Development, Shandong University, Peoples Republic of China.