Aging and public health is the branch of public health concerned with promoting the health and wellbeing of individuals as they age, addressing their health, functioning, quality of life, and financial security. It draws on research, practice, education, and advocacy across aging services, community health systems, policy development, healthcare financing, and public health programs directed at older populations. The field has grown in relevance as public health practice increasingly integrates gerontological understanding of a heterogeneous older population and the social determinants that shape its health.
Facts
Central QuestionSourced to the subject's own accountWhat changes accompany aging across the whole lifespan, and what population-level action, alongside individual care, promotes healthy aging and quality of life. 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountThe field of aging shifted from a narrowly biomedical account of old age toward a biopsychosocial model integrating knowledge from multiple domains, a real change in how the discipline frames its own subject. 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountWhether aging itself should be classified and treated as a disease, rather than accepted as a natural process to be managed, is a live dispute within biogerontology, with direct consequences for how aging-related public health programs are framed and funded. 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Gerontology
WikipediaLead section, first sentence
Gerontology is the science of old age and the aging process.
Lead section, second paragraph
While gerontology was initially grounded in biomedical perspectives, the transition to the biopsychosocial model marked a turning point in its evolution.
Biogerontology section
Some argue that aging fits the criteria of disease, therefore aging is disease and should be treated as disease.
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