Indicators of Healthy Aging: A Guide to Explore Healthy Aging Data through Community Health Improvement
Collecting, analyzing, and translating relevant and robust data on older adults.
For over a century, public health interventions – from vaccines to food safety and vector control – have contributed to Americans’ longevity, and state and local health departments play a key role in supporting their communities by promoting healthy living. Healthy aging programs uniquely dovetail with local health department Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs). Both allow health departments and partnering organizations to understand and address healthy aging priorities through data.
An analysis conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), found that most CHIPs include priorities that, while not specifically addressing older adults (e.g., 65 years of age and older), could be adapted for healthy aging programs. These priorities include chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer, as well as substance use, depression, and other mental health conditions.
To develop and strengthen age-friendly public health systems, a more comprehensive set of healthy aging indicators is needed to help health departments and community partners at the local, state, tribal, and territorial levels measure and identify population-level health disparities and inequities. Additionally, Community Health Improvement (CHI) partners need a robust, unified source of secondary data that aligns with healthy aging indicators to inform strategic and action planning.
This guide, developed by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and with funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation, is designed to augment NACCHO’s Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) framework. MAPP is the most widely used CHI framework among governmental public health departments and, increasingly, community-based organizations, nonprofit hospital systems, and community health centers that lead or engage in CHI processes. This also serves as a resource for health departments seeking to attain Age-Friendly Public Health Systems (AFPHS) recognition.
