Last week, ASPPH convened leaders across academic public health to discuss our new report, Healthy Longevity: Public Health’s Next Frontier, A Framework for Research, Education, Practice, and Policy. The ASPPH Presents webinar featured expert members of our Healthy Longevity Task Force and explored how public health can lead the national effort to extend healthspan, not just lifespan. In response to the National Academy of Medicine’s call to action, the framework outlines a bold vision, known as Public Health 4.0, that reimagines the role of academic public health in fostering long, healthy, engaged lives for all.

The report provides a roadmap for integrating healthy longevity into core areas of education, research, practice, and policy, with recommendations for how our members can implement a life course approach to prevention and aging equity.

As Task Force Chair Dr. Linda Fried emphasized in the webinar, “Today we add a fourth goal (Public Health 4.0) to make the creation of long lives with health, or healthy longevity, a blueprint for the next generation of academic public health and our public health system.”

The framework calls for curriculum reform to prepare a workforce equipped to lead in aging and prevention, research that bridges geroscience and social determinants of health, and advocacy for policies that frame aging as a source of strength. Notably, it highlights the economic and societal value of healthy longevity: a one-year increase in healthy life expectancy is estimated to yield $38 trillion in return.

This initiative urges us to invest in public health systems that promote vitality across all ages, from combating ageism and chronic disease to fostering social connections and age-friendly communities. The potential is transformative for our students, our institutions, and the populations we serve.

We invite you to explore the framework and join us in advancing this critical mission to ensure that longer lives are not only possible, but lived with health, purpose, and equity.