Overview

Across the world, populations are aging rapidly as fertility and mortality rates decline. This unprecedented demographic transformation is poised to place further fiscal pressure on social protection and health systems, as well as change labor dynamics. Proactive and forward-thinking policies are necessary to ensure that every person is able to age equitably, with security and dignity. Countries will need to strategically integrate an understanding of, and responsiveness to, aging across a range of policy areas at every level of government. Many countries have already taken steps to integrate aging into their strategic planning. These plans offer insights and lessons learned for policymakers, practitioners, and advocates who are working to advance age-friendly frameworks in other countries around the world. To understand the varying approaches to healthy aging more deeply, and to advance more comprehensive, inclusive, whole-of-government approaches to aging, AARP partnered with FP Analytics to identify and analyze national and subnational policy measures that are designed to support the overall well-being and health of older persons across all relevant areas of policymaking. This collaboration, which builds on the Innovation and Leadership in Healthy Aging report and its accompanying toolkit of case studies, establishes a Database of Action Plans on Aging (DAPA) of national and subnational-level plans that will be expanded and updated over time. The Database highlights defining features of these plans, the context in which they were developed, and their achievements to date. The Database and corresponding analysis are intended to provide policymakers and healthy aging experts around the world with resources to inform their development or updating of policies and plans intended to support their aging populations. The following report synthesizes early learnings from the initial 13 national-level and two subnational-level plans, policies, and strategies included in the Database, which will grow in the months and years ahead.