Healthy Ageing
Healthy Ageing is the process of maintaining functional ability and well-being throughout life. It encompasses physical and cognitive health, social engagement, and the capacity to live with purpose and autonomy in older age. With increasing global life expectancy, Healthy Ageing is a crucial goal for individuals and public health alike.
Some Key Questions
Framing ageing as “healthy” introduces normative questions: Who defines what counts as healthy? How are expectations of activity, productivity, or independence distributed across social and economic lines? Health technologies and preventive interventions targeted at older adults raise issues of access, fairness, and medicalisation.
From a bioethical standpoint, Healthy Ageing must be pursued with attention to diversity in ageing trajectories, respect for lived experience, and the mitigation of structural disadvantage. It calls for policies that promote not only longevity, but also equity, dignity, and social cohesion in ageing societies.