Support healthy ageing

Promoting healthy ageing is about maximising everyone’s ability to continue to do the things that matter to us as we get older.

People around the world are living longer. By 2050 nearly one in five people in developing countries will be over the age of 60. Longer life expectancy is a cause for celebration, but this new reality also brings new challenges.

Healthy ageing is influenced by our physical and mental abilities, such as our ability to walk, think, see, hear and remember. As we age, these can be affected by disease, injury or general age-related changes.

Our environment and the society in which we live also affects healthy ageing. The facilities and structures built around us, the people and relationships in our lives, the attitudes and values we and others around us hold, the opportunities available to us, and the systems and services that are there to support us.

 

Healthy ageing for us all

While people around the world are living longer, many do not enjoy healthy ageing. In low- and middle-income countries – where the majority of the world’s older people live – a lack of access to education, food, income, and health and care services severely affect our ability to enjoy health and wellbeing throughout our lives.

Older women in Kyrgyzstan celebrate World Diabetes Day

We should all be able to enjoy healthy ageing.

Everyone’s right to health, to live independently and to participate in society must be protected and promoted. We all want to be able to stay physically and socially active, to feel connected to our communities and to thrive, whatever our age or circumstances.

What is HelpAge International doing?

We work with network members and partners from grassroot to global levels to promote healthy ageing. We aim to reach the furthest behind first, so that everyone, everywhere is able to access the health and care services they need, regardless of age.

 

HelpAge healthy ageing platform

To catalyse action and advance progress on healthy ageing, HelpAge International and over 100 partners globally have launched the HelpAge Healthy Ageing Platform. The platform brings together country-based partners to connect, build capacity, share knowledge and drive collective action with and for older people from grassroots to global levels. Our vision is for healthy ageing to be fully embedded into policies and practices at all levels to ensure every older person, everywhere, can enjoy health and wellbeing. For more information, please email healthyageingplatform@helpage.org.

 

The Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030)

We are a non-state actor in official relations with the World Health Organization andactive contributors to the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021 – 2030) which aims to give everyone the opportunity to add life to years, wherever they live..

We support the transformations of systems and societies so that they successfully promote healthy ageing across the life course. We focus on achieving age-inclusive, universal and equitable health and care services, at the same time as taking action to address wider determinants of health.

To achieve this, we:

  • conduct broad based advocacy at all levels to ensure systems and services promote healthy ageing across the life course, including by promoting Universal Health Coverage fit for an ageing world.
  • Promote community-based approaches to health and wellbeing through policy, programmes and partnerships – see our briefing on this area of work including information about the SUNI-SEA programme in Myanmar and Vietnam, the Better Health for Older People in Africa programme and our work scaling up community organisations across Asia. You can access all our resources here.
  • influence and provide expertise to support the development of universal, rights based and person-centred long-term care and support systems.
  • work with partners at all levels to ensure older people’s right to health is respected, protected and fulfilled.

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