Abstract

The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) was initiated by the Dutch Ministry of Welfare, Health and Culture (currently Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports). By the end of the 1980s, ministry officials recognized that ageing would be a major demographic driving force, shaping the need for health care in the Dutch population in the near future. Therefore, they became increasingly interested in the process of ageing and ageing-related determinants of health-care use, and wanted to develop policies for older people in The Netherlands who were in need of extra care and support. Maintaining independent functioning, quality of life and participation of older people were recognized to be major challenges for Dutch society. Multi-disciplinary and longitudinal scientific research was considered to be needed to inform the ministry’s policy and monitor functioning and well-being of older Dutch people, leading to the start of the LASA study in 1991. The study was designed by researchers from the VU University and VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, in a close collaboration between social and biomedical scientists. This collaboration ensured a thoroughly multi-disciplinary approach fitting the scope of the intended focus of LASA.