Re-imagining Healthy Ageing Through the Lens of Flagship Campaigns: An Introduction

The Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021–2030 and related campaigns are promising initiatives aimed at supporting older adults and their families. Some crises that are experienced globally (e.g. climate change, natural disaster/earthquake, war/violence, infectious diseases, and extreme industrialisation), however, can offset the desired outcomes of these campaigns and make their action plans unachievable. This edited book offers an interdisciplinary discourse on how healthy ageing can be made more realistic amidst crises. It reframes healthy ageing using action plans of flagship campaigns as a lens and comprises 15 chapters contributed by 43 authors in 13 countries. The multidisciplinary nature of the book’s authorship underscores the applicability of its models and evidence in a wide spectrum of disciplines, including public health, architecture, sociology, engineering, finance, human resources management, geography, and social marketing. The themes covered span action plans of the Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021–2030 related to age-friendly communities, ageism, and research data and evidence for healthy ageing. The book suggests that healthy ageing is analogous to ‘sustainable ageing’ in contexts experiencing crises where individuals ultimately maintain healthy longevity despite health and social threats.