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AbstractObjectivesThis article considers how individuals' motivation for healthy aging manifests within the myriad of different contexts that older adults are embedded in as they move through later life.MethodsDrawing on the concept of co-construction, we argue that persons and contexts both contribute to the emergence, maintenance, and disengagement from healthy aging relevant goals in adulthood and old age.ResultsTo promote the understanding of such co-constructive dynamics, we propose four conceptual refinements of previous healthy aging models. First, we outline various different, often multidirectional, ways in which persons and contexts conjointly contribute to how people set, pursue, and disengage from health goals. Second, we promote consideration of context as involving unique, shared, and interactive effects of socio-economic, social, physical, care/service, and technology dimensions. Third, we highlight how the relevance, utility, and nature of these context dimensions and their role in co-constructing health goals change as individuals move through the Third Age, the Fourth Age, and a terminal stages of life. Finally, we suggest that these conceptual refinements be linked to established (motivational) theories of lifespan development and aging.DiscussionsIn closing, we outline a set of research questions that promise to advance our understanding of the mechanisms by which contexts and aging persons co-construct healthy aging relevant goals and elaborate on the applied significance of this approach for common public health practices.

AbstractThis study aimed to characterize age-related white matter changes by evaluating patterns of overlap between the linear association of age with fractional anisotropy (FA) with mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD). Specifically, we assessed patterns of overlap between diffusion measures of normal appearing white matter by covarying for white matter hyperintensity (WMH) load, as WMHs are thought to increase with age and impact diffusion measures. Seventy-nine healthy adults aged between 18 and 75 years took part in the study. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were based on 61 directions acquired with a b-value of 2,000. We found five main patterns of overlap: FA alone (15.95%); FA and RD (31.90%); FA and AD (12.99%); FA, RD, and AD (27.93%); and FA, RD, and MD (8.79%). We showed that cognitively healthy aging adults had low WMH load, which subsequently had minimal effect on diffusion measures. We discuss how patterns of overlap may reflect underlying biological changes observed with aging such as loss of myelination, axonal damage, as well as mild microstructural and chronic white matter impairments. This study contributes to understanding the underlying causes of degeneration in specific regions of the brain and highlights the importance of considering the impact of WMHs in aging studies of white matter.

The need to transform health and long-term care systems to adapt to an ageing population is a global issue. In October 2023, the LSE Aging and Health Incentives Lab and the University of Pennsylvania’s Population Aging Research Center convened a workshop on Healthy Aging and Adult Caregiving, featuring evidence on healthy aging with a global … Continued

AbstractIn this paper, we evaluate a pre-pandemic multi-dimensional healthy aging program promoted by an Italian private Foundation to provide new insights on interventions that address both health and social needs within an age-friendly community framework. Using propensity score matching and linear regression models, with specific controls for individuals' self-selection into the program, we compare lifestyles, physical health, mental conditions, and healthy life expectancy of subjects enrolled into the program with those of similar, but non-enrolled, subjects. Our main finding is that, to be more effective, healthy aging interventions should target the key dimensions of aging - physical, mental, and social - in a holistic approach. Indeed, we show that the multi-dimensionality of the healthy aging intervention under study - the contemporaneous target of older adults' physical, mental, and social health - is crucial in improving both quantity and quality of life.

Cover -- Changing Seasons -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface to Revised Edition -- Acknowledgments -- ABOUT THE PROGRAM -- Curriculum Goals -- Curriculum Content -- Curriculum Implementation -- Tips for Facilitators -- How to Use This Book -- ORAL LANGUAGE -- Strategies for Activities and Lessons -- Getting Started -- Warm-Up Activities -- Lessons -- Listening -- Speaking -- Vocabulary Building -- WRITTEN LANGUAGE -- Activities -- Lessons and Steps for Various Writing Styles -- Expository Writing -- Descriptive Writing -- Persuasive Writing -- Narrative Writing -- Folklore -- Poetry -- TECHNOLOGY TRAINING -- Basic Functions to Teach for Navigating Video Conferencing Platforms -- Teaching Strategies -- Key Technology Terms -- Video Conferencing Technology Training -- Sample Online Interactive Lessons -- Checking for Understanding -- Challenges -- SEASONAL ACTIVITIES -- ABSTRACT ART ACTIVITIES -- APPENDICES -- Appendix A. Additional Idioms, Commonly Misspelled Words, Food Words, and Recipes -- Appendix B. Questionnaires -- Appendix C. Graphic Organizers -- Appendix D. Technology Resources and Assessments -- Appendix E. Sample Daily and Weekly Plans -- Glossary -- Resources -- About the Author.

The first of the Baby Boomer generation will officially enter the beginning of old age in 2011 by turning 65. Recent research findings suggest that if the members of this cohort group engage in certain healthy behaviors and thought patterns in their middle years, they will experience a vital, satisfying life in their 70s and beyond. This article reviews the existing literature, including the results of longitudinal studies showing variables that predicted successful aging. Focusing on a lifespan psychology perspective of aging, the authors provide behavioral recommendations for middle age individuals that are likely to prevent disease-related disability, cognitive impairment, and late life depression. These include regular physical exercise, engaging in cognitively stimulating activities, maintaining an optimistic mental outlook, and finding meaning in life. The good news for the Baby Boomers is that there is increasing evidence that their behavior at age 50 will impact how they feel at age 80.

Programming which promotes healthy aging may be lacking in
states where nutrition and health interventions are directed earlier in life. Due to
Maryland's increasing aging population, a team of 10 University of Maryland Extension
Family and Consumer Sciences educators received permission to adapt and implement the
Iowa Department of Public Health's, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Human
Services and Department on Aging, Fresh Conversations program to fit the needs of
Maryland's older adults. The purpose of this manuscript is not to discuss research
findings but rather to share our challenges, successes, and recommendations for adapting
and implementing another state's multi-session program to meet the needs of individual
states' communities. Specifically, we discovered communicating with partnering sites,
offering food tastings, accommodating various food cultures/traditions, following the
original program design, and efficiently collecting data or programmatic form responses
needed careful consideration. Despite the challenges we encountered, we expanded our
national and state partnerships; reached 2,836 educational contacts across the state;
and developed a detailed planning, implementation, and evaluation protocol and training,
which is being used as a template for other statewide program efforts.

There is an urgent need to translate science into practice and help enhance the capacity of professionals to deliver evidence-based programming. We describe contributions of the Healthy Aging Research Network in building professional capacity through online modules, issue briefs, monographs, and tools focused on health promotion practice, physical activity, mental health, and environment and policy. We also describe practice partnerships and research activities that helped inform product development and ways these products have been incorporated into real-world practice to illustrate possibilities for future applications. Our work aims to bridge the research-to-practice gap to meet the demands of an aging population.

Little is known about the extent to which aging trajectories of different body systems share common sources of variance. We here present a large twin study investigating the trajectories of change in five systems: cardiovascular, respiratory, skeletal, morphometric, and metabolic. Longitudinal clinical data were collected on 3,508 female twins in the TwinsUK registry (complete pairs:740 monozygotic (MZ), 986 dizygotic (DZ), mean age at entry 48.9 ± 10.4, range 18–75 years; mean follow-up 10.2 ± 2.8 years, range 4–17.8 years). Panel data on multiple age-related variables were used to estimate biological ages for each individual at each time point, in linear mixed effects models. A weighted average approach was used to combine variables within predefined body system groups. Aging trajectories for each system in each individual were then constructed using linear modeling. Multivariate structural equation modeling of these aging trajectories showed low genetic effects (heritability), ranging from 2% in metabolic aging to 22% in cardiovascular aging. However, we found a significant effect of shared environmental factors on the variations in aging trajectories in cardiovascular (54%), skeletal (34%), morphometric (53%), and metabolic systems (53%). The remainder was due to environmental factors unique to each individual plus error. Multivariate Cholesky decomposition showed that among aging trajectories for various body systems there were significant and substantial correlations between the unique environmental latent factors as well as shared environmental factors. However, there was no evidence for a single common factor for aging. This study, the first of its kind in aging, suggests that diverse organ systems share non-genetic sources of variance for aging trajectories. Confirmatory studies are needed using population-based twin cohorts and alternative methods of handling missing data.

Background: Although prior research on the housing–health linkage suggested that those with poor housing conditions are more likely to report poor health, it is dominated by Western studies and offers little evidence on the housing–health relation in China. Scarce is empirical evidence on the potentially detrimental impact of either qualitative or quantitative housing poverty on health outcomes, especially for seniors in China. This paper aims to fill this void by using data from the 2011–2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) to provide a comprehensive analysis of the demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors that contribute to changes in healthy aging among Chinese adults aged 60 and over. Methods: Data collected from 8839 adults aged 60 and over in the 2011 and 2015 CHARLS (3732 in 2011 and 5107 in 2015) were used. We first used six blood-based biomarkers to construct a composite measure of the Chinese Healthy Aging Index (CHAI, ranging from 0 (healthiest) to 12 (unhealthiest)) and then assessed the psychometric properties of the CHAI score, including acceptability, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminative validity and precision. In addition, we employed both mean-based Blinder–Oaxaca and unconditional quantile regression decomposition to decompose the change in healthy aging within the 2011–2015 period. Results: We overall identified a decrease in CHAI score from 5.69 in 2011 to 5.20 in 2015, which implies an improvement in healthy aging during this period. Our linear decomposition revealed that dependent on the type of measure used (whether quality, quantity, or combined quality–quantity), housing poverty explained 4–8% of the differences in CHAI score. Our distributional decompositions also highlighted an important role for housing poverty in the change in healthy aging, accounting for approximately 7–23% of the explained portion. Within this latter, the relative contribution of housing quantity and quality poverty was more pronounced at the median and upper end of the CHAI distribution. We also found household expenditure to be significantly associated with healthy aging among older Chinese adults and made the largest contribution to the improvement in healthy aging over time. Conclusions: The association between housing poverty and CHAI is independent of household expenditure. Regardless of type, housing poverty is positively associated with a decrease in healthy aging. Thus, improved housing conditions boost healthy aging, and housing amelioration initiatives may offer the most effective solution for augmenting healthy aging in China. Improvement of flush toilets and the access to potable water and a separate kitchen require particular attention. Since high-density congested housing has a negative impact on healthy aging, more attention can also be paid to improvements in the available space for older people. Especially at an institutional level, the government may extend the housing policy from a homeownership scheme to a housing upgrading scheme by improving housing conditions.