Healthy Aging
Promoting healthy aging means maximizing everyone’s ability to continue doing the things that matter to them as they grow older. It’s about adding life to years — not just years to life.
Around the world, people are living longer thanks to achievements in healthcare, disease prevention and treatment, education, and nutrition. By 2050, the world’s population of older people is expected to double. Yet all too often, these additional years are not as healthy and fulfilling as they could be.
Chronic illness, mental health conditions, and social isolation can interfere with older people’s ability to thrive and contribute to their families, communities, and economies. Poverty, abuse, ageism and other forms of discrimination, such as on the basis of gender, also undermine healthy aging for many.
Millions of older people around the world cannot access quality healthcare and services that meet their needs. The majority of health systems remain unprepared for population aging. They have not yet invested sufficiently in prevention and treatment of the most common health issues for older people. These include communicable diseases, such as heart conditions, diabetes, and cancers, as well as conditions like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
HelpAge USA is part of a global movement promoting everyone’s equal rights to health, dignity, autonomy and choice, and to participate in society, regardless of age.
Learn More
Healthy Aging for Us All
Achieving Universal Health Coverage Fit for an Aging World
Driving Equitable Action on Non-Communicable Diseases
Community Healthy Aging Approaches and Older People’s Indispensable Role
What We Do
We work with our global network partners across 98 low- and middle-income countries to advance older people’s leadership in healthy aging actions and advocacy, such as:
- The design and implementation of practical, evidence-based community initiatives responsive to the specific health concerns identified by older people
- Innovative self-care initiatives around nutrition, hydration, sleep, physical activity, and mental wellbeing
- Advocacy with local and national health and social services officials for age-inclusive and person-centered policies and healthcare delivery
- Influencing relevant global and regional processes on older people’s human rights, Universal Health Coverage, and response to communicable and non-communicable diseases
HelpAge Healthy Ageing Platform
To catalyze action globally, HelpAge International and more than 150 partners launched the HelpAge Healthy Ageing Platform, a global initiative to expand, deepen, and speed up efforts to advance healthy aging across communities, countries, and regions.
This unique platform connects diverse organizations to share knowledge and good practices, build technical skills, and drive collective action. Members lead and participate in learning and training sessions, engage in joint advocacy, and secure catalytic grants to pilot new initiatives and expand promising work.
