Introduction

Over the last 10 years, the world has experienced a plethora of major shifts in society, many of which have been unprecedented. Technologically, with major economic implications, the advent of the fourth industrial revolution has seen emergence of artificial intelligence. This has meant that many things that humans used to do can now be easily and more efficiently done by machines. The world population has also over the last three years experienced a major health pandemic, COVID-19, which is something never seen for centuries. This pandemic has resulted in many deaths and disease, most of which impacted middle-aged and older members of society. ‘Global life expectancy at birth fell to 71.0 years in 2021, down from 72.8 in 2019, due mostly to the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic’ (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2022). The effects of global warming have begun to be directly felt in many parts of the world, with various weather related disasters impacting on societies negatively. The advent of wars during this same period has not helped abate the difficulties mankind has faced.