Promoting Healthy Aging: Practical Strategies for an Aging World
McKinsey has published an excellent article that discusses the importance of promoting healthy aging and participation for older adults in the context of rapid demographic change.
It emphasizes the need to focus on "adding years to life and life to years" and highlights the importance of increasing the number of years spent in good health.
The article also suggests that achieving healthy aging is possible if all stakeholders work together and take practical action on the most pressing challenges facing the aging world today.
Finally, the author believes that creating a world where older adults and societies can expect a longer and higher quality of life is possible.
1 Promotion of healthy aging
Globally, the prevention of disease and impaired mobility is underfunded. More prevention efforts should be focused on age-related conditions like dementia and sensory impairments, as well as lifelong physical activity and managing depression.
Prevention programs, both clinical and non-clinical, can improve the quality of life for older adults and reduce long-term healthcare costs. Investing in preventative measures can increase social and economic contribution and potentially reduce healthcare costs.
Future evidence-based preventative measures, including wearables and targeting and treating aging itself, should be researched.
2 Get better data
Standardized data sets are lacking in high-income countries to capture older people's diverse health capacity over time and their personal attributes, behaviors, and environmental factors.
Accessing and integrating various data sets remain challenging, and current measurements do not always reflect older adults' priorities. Governments could define a standardized data catalog and share data across institutions to create high-quality, integrated longitudinal data on all four dimensions of health.
Establishing a collaborative exchange of data that protects patient privacy is crucial, leading to an evidence-based understanding of the varying needs of older adults and tracking specific conditions. The long-term goal is to create data-driven measurements of holistic health supported by standardized, integrated data.
3 Apply proven interventions
A study found that proven interventions such as a healthy diet, physical activity, smoking cessation, access to vaccines and medicines, and mental health therapy could reduce older adults' disability-adjusted life years by nearly 30 percent.
Programs and technology could promote independence and aging in place, such as Japan's multigenerational affordable-housing complexes or wearables that detect falls.
Humanistic approaches to care, such as person-centered care and community care models, could also help. In-home and facility-based eldercare, access to technology, and initiatives that combat isolation and provide a sense of purpose can boost the quality of life for older adults.
4 Healthy aging ecosystem innovations
Innovation for healthy aging should extend beyond life sciences, and collaboration between life sciences, digital, technology, and services is needed.
Governments should support innovation through a whole-of-government approach and by creating "focused research organizations" for areas not viable for private or government investment.
Two key areas for innovation are improving dementia treatment through pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions and closing the care workforce gap for aged care.
Global collaboration in dementia drug development is needed, and non-pharmaceutical interventions such as exercise and healthy habits should be encouraged.
Countries are taking different approaches to address the care workforce gap, and affordable, accessible care solutions are needed to ensure dignity and independence in old age.
5 Encourage all industries to enable healthy aging
Non-health players can develop products and infrastructure to support healthy aging.
Employers can offer eldercare funds, create "second-career" pathways, and reduce age discrimination. Cross-sector collaborations can result in interventions such as free rides for completed workouts, nutrition nudges, and smart-home technology.
The public sector could make services more accessible by designing around "stage," while parts of the tech and gaming industry are designing age-inclusive platforms for older adults.
6 Motivate older adults
To improve individuals' ability to influence their own health outcomes, a combination of health education, public- and private-sector innovation, and robust public policy is recommended.
For healthy aging, this requires widespread adoption of self-directed practices, such as physical activity, healthy diets, social connections, and cognitive engagement.
Ongoing community involvement is also important, as well as inclusive public-sector infrastructure, such as an accessible and affordable public transportation system designed for older participants.
Non-health players can develop products and infrastructure to support healthy aging. Employers can offer eldercare funds, create "second-career" pathways, and reduce age discrimination.
Cross-sector collaborations can result in interventions such as free rides for completed workouts, nutrition nudges, and smart-home technology.
The public sector could make services more accessible by designing around the "stage," while parts of the tech and gaming industry are designing age-inclusive platforms for older adults.