The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20190611084251/https://www.who.int/ageing/en/

Ageing and Life Course

An intergenerational family looking into the camera.
Judith Escribano/Age International

Populations around the world are rapidly ageing. Ageing presents both challenges and opportunities. It will increase demand for primary health care and long-term care, require a larger and better trained workforce and intensify the need for environments to be made more age-friendly. Yet, these investments can enable the many contributions of older people – whether it be within their family, to their local community (e.g. as volunteers or within the formal or informal workforce) or to society more broadly.

Societies that adapt to this changing demographic and invest in Healthy Ageing can enable individuals to live both longer and healthier lives and for societies to reap the dividends.
 

10 Priorities for a Decade of Action on Healthy Ageing

WHO

The 10 Priorities provide the concrete actions that are needed to achieve the objectives of the WHO Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health. Each priority is crucial to enable the world to take on a decade of concerted action on Healthy Ageing (2020-2030). Many are inextricably linked and all will require collaboration with many key partners. Healthy Ageing will not become a reality without focused global action, and these ten priorities provide the path forward.

Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health

An older man in the sea, looking to camera.
Frédéric Dupoux/HelpAge International 2010

To ensure adults live not only longer but healthier lives, a Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health was adopted in May 2016 by the World Health Assembly. This Strategy focuses on five strategic objectives and is a significant step forward in
establishing a framework to achieve Healthy Ageing for all. It includes a call for countries to commit to action, and develop
age-friendly environments. It also outlines the need to align health systems to the needs of older people, and the development of sustainable and equitable systems of long-term care. It emphasises the importance of improved data, measurement, and research,
and involving older people in all decisions that concern them.

World report on ageing and health 2015

Illustration from the cover of the World report on ageing and health 2015.
Rose Wiley

Comprehensive public health action on population ageing is urgently needed. This will require fundamental shifts, not just in the things we do, but in how we think about ageing itself. The 2015 World report on ageing and health outlines a framework for action to foster Healthy Ageing built around the new concepts of functional ability and intrinsic capacity. This will require a transformation of health systems away from disease-based curative models and towards the provision of older-person-centred and integrated care. Making
these investments will have valuable social and economic returns, both in terms of health and wellbeing of older people and in
enabling their on-going participation in society.

Towards an Age-friendly World

Older persons dance in a park in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China
EPA/How Hwee Young

September 2015 - Cities and communities world-wide strive to become more age-friendly. They seek to better adapt to the needs of
their ageing populations. But what are they actually doing? Browse the new database to find out. Small measures can make a big difference. They are shared here by communities, for communities.

Areas of Work

The Department of Ageing and Life Course organises its work according to the 5 strategic priority areas identified in the Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health 2016-2020.

1. Commit to action

2. Age-friendly environments

3. Health systems that meet the needs of older people

4. Long-term-care systems

5. Data and research

Highlight

Mid-term Progress: Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health

New data is now available reflecting the progress that has been made around the world in implementing the Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health since it was first adopted in 2016. WHO collected data on 10 indicators from countries and regions. This information was used to develop a mid-term progress report that was presented at the Seventy-first World Health Assembly in May 2018, as requested by WHO’s 194 Member States.

News and events

WHO Guidelines on Risk Reduction of Cognitive Decline and Dementia

14 May 2019 - The WHO has released new guidelines on reducing the risk of dementia. This new review of the scientific evidence finds that healthy lifestyle choices such as regular exercise, not smoking, avoiding harmful use of alcohol, controlling weight, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining health blood pressure can help prevent cognitive decline and dementia. The guidelines are designed to be useful for health-care providers, governments, policy-makers and planning authorities to help them make decisions, formulate advice, and design programmes that encourage healthy lifestyles.

Infographics and fact sheets

An older woman riding a bicycle.

Quick facts

Publications

Report on the Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, and Case Studies

30 November 2018 – What have cities and communities around the world done to become more age-friendly? A new report on the WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities reviews progress since the founding of the Network in 2007, and charts the way forward over the next decade. The accompanying case studies from members of the Network around the world examine local age-friendly programmes in depth.

Contact us

The WHO Department of Ageing and Life Course (ALC) coordinates WHO’s work on ageing and health, which takes place in many different departments and at all levels of the Organization.

Department of Ageing and Life-Course (ALC)
World Health Organization
Avenue Appia 20
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Email: ageing@who.int

The ALC Team

Partnerships