Healthy People 2030 and Older Adults
Healthy People 2030 sets measurable national objectives with 10-year targets to improve the health and well-being of all people. Twenty of those objectives are specifically focused on reducing health problems and improving quality of life for older adults. Healthy People 2030’s population data make it easy to see how older adults’ health compares to national targets.
Use the Healthy People 2030 older adults objectives to:
- Set your own targets for your programs
- Find practical tools, including evidence-based resources your community, state, or organization can use
- Monitor national progress – and use our data as a benchmark
ODPHP has curated a set of objectives from Healthy People 2030 that are directly or indirectly related to healthy aging into a custom list so they're easy for you to reference and track.
Save the Healthy Aging Custom List to your bookmarks.
Move Your Way® Materials for Older Adults
Physical activity can help older adults prevent both chronic disease and fall-related injuries. That’s why older adults have always been a priority audience for the Move Your Way® campaign, which is the promotional campaign for the second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
ODPHP offers a Move Your Way materials to help older adults understand the amount and types of physical activity they need to be healthy. Share Move Your Way fact sheets, posters, videos, interactive tools, and social media posts with older adults so that they can learn about the benefits of being active and find activities that work for them.
Explore all Move Your Way materials for older adults.
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Implementation Strategies for Older Adults
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Implementation Strategies for Older Adults highlights strategies to increase physical activity among older adults in key settings and reinforces the amount and types of physical activity older adults need.
Professionals working with older adults can implement these strategies wherever older adults spend their time — including in community, health care, and home settings. These strategies include policy, systems, and environmental approaches; behavior change; and physical activity programs.
To learn about key messages in the report, read the Top 10 Things to Know About the Midcourse Report.
Health and Wellness Tips for Older Adults and Caregivers on MyHealthfinder
MyHealthfinder provides evidence-based health information that’s actionable and easy to use. The site covers a wide range of topics, including different health conditions, preventive care, and everyday healthy living topics like nutrition and physical activity.
MyHealthfinder includes information that’s specific to older adults. Search MyHealthfinder for evidence-based health information that you can share with older adults.
MyHealthfinder also offers tips and resources for how people can take care of themselves while caring for a loved one. Share the ways caregivers can take action to support their health.
Older Adults and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Building a healthy eating routine can help people stay healthy, active, and independent as they get older. ODPHP encourages older adults to build a healthy eating pattern that aligns with the recommendations in the 2020–2025 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. And for the first time, this edition of the Dietary Guidelines includes recommendations specifically for older adults.
Use these materials – including a fact sheet on building a healthy eating routine as you get older – to start a conversation and share key messages with your patients, clients, and peers on the evidence-based nutrition guidance.
Healthy Aging Events
In 2015, HHS held the inaugural Healthy Aging Summit to explore the latest science on healthy aging and help set national priorities for promoting health and preventing disease in older adults. Since then, ODPHP has continued to host events focused on the health and wellbeing of older adults.
These events highlight policies and successful community-level approaches to healthy aging — and encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing between state public health agencies and state units on aging. Workshop attendees also learn about the social and environmental factors that impact older adults’ health.
Healthy Aging Workshop Series
In 2023, ODPHP co-sponsored the Healthy Aging Workshop with Trust for America’s Health. State public health leaders and state units on aging leaders worked together to identify shared regional priorities, develop objectives to meet these priorities, and establish action items for future collaboration.
This workshop built on conversations had during the 2021 Regional Calls.
Healthy Aging Symposium
ODPHP co-sponsored the 2021 Healthy Aging Symposium with Trust for America’s Health. This free 2-day virtual event connected attendees to the latest science, best practices, and innovative interventions to improve the health and wellbeing of older Americans.
It brought together people working to promote health in older adults, particularly public health professionals, health care providers, researchers, community leaders, and policymakers at all levels of government to share their healthy aging work and insights. Professionals in other sectors — like housing, transportation, and recreation — also attended.
Attendees learned how to address barriers and reduce health disparities for older adults. And the event built on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a major impact on the physical and mental health of many older adults.
Healthy Aging Summit
In 2018, ODPHP, Office of Women’s Health (OWH), and the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) hosted the Healthy Aging Summit. This Summit focused on keeping Americans healthy as they transition into older adulthood and maximizing the health of all older adults through prevention strategies.
Health care providers, health officials, educators, students, caregivers, and older adults were invited to take part in the event and learn from subject matter experts first-hand what is working across important areas such as healthcare, transportation, built environment, housing, law and policy, and faith-based partnerships.
It brought together people working to promote health in older adults, particularly public health professionals, health care providers, researchers, community leaders, and policymakers at all levels of government to share their healthy aging work and insights. Professionals in other sectors — like housing, transportation, and recreation — also attended.
