Last week, ASPPH President and CEO Dr. Laura Magaña gave the James E. Dalen Distinguished Lecture for Health Policy at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. During her talk, she emphasized changes that need to be made to ensure the healthy longevity of our population, including recognizing aging not as a burden, but as a significant societal opportunity.
Dr. Magaña outlined the demographic revolution we are experiencing in which half of the children born today in developed countries could live to be 100 years old. However, she emphasized that the goal is not merely extending life but enriching it, ensuring that these additional years are lived with health, dignity, and purpose.
She highlighted the critical need for a paradigm shift within public health that requires public health systems to evolve, ensuring support for sustained lifelong health.
Two important concepts were discussed throughout the presentation: equity and prevention. Healthy longevity requires confronting and addressing deep-seated inequities related to race, income, education, and geography, ensuring that health improvements reach all communities equally. In parallel, prevention must be prioritized throughout the lifespan. Effective preventive strategies range from early-life interventions, including nutrition and education, to chronic disease management, fall prevention, and other age-related health initiatives.
Dr. Magaña also reviewed ways in which schools and programs of public health can be leaders by modeling what it means to be a healthy longevity-oriented institution, not just through what they teach, but through how they partner, whom they reach, and the policies they influence. Potential areas to explore include promoting intergenerational education, conducting research into healthy longevity, incorporating lifelong learning initiatives, embracing technology and innovation, and advocating for policies that shape the conditions for healthy longevity. Dr. Magaña called upon the public health community to actively participate in reshaping aging policy, practice, and education to ensure that longevity equates to health, equity, and opportunity for all.
ASPPH will soon release its Health Longevity Framework, featuring targeted recommendations to help schools and public health programs address this critical challenge.