Supporting Health, Connection, and Purpose as We Age
One of public health’s greatest successes has been helping people live longer lives. With that extraordinary achievement, we must now focus on making those added years healthier, more active, and more fulfilling.
As the prevalence of chronic disease and complex health needs grows with age, public health plays a critical role in fostering communities and systems that help people maintain their independence, stay connected, and continue doing the things that matter most.
As we recognize Healthy Aging Month this September, I’d like to highlight some of the important work NACDD and our partners are doing to support public health practitioners in advancing healthy aging in their communities.
Integrating Brain Health Messaging in Chronic Disease Programs
In 2019, NACDD launched its collaboration with CDC to advance awareness of the relationship between brain health and physical health. This initiative links dementia and cognitive decline risk messaging into key risk reduction areas such as blood pressure, heart health, diabetes, physical activity, healthy eating, and tobacco cessation.
As part of this initiative we:
- Facilitate learning opportunities, including peer-to-peer exchanges and a Learning Action Institute, to strengthen capacity to address Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
- Built the Healthy Aging, Healthy Brain Resource Hub—a searchable library for trusted resources, tools, and data from experts and practitioners in the field. Visit the Hub for resources and tools to: decrease the risk of dementia, promote early detection and diagnosis, support caregivers, and improve quality of life across the life course.
- Created downloadable risk reduction rack cards, which offer an impactful way to keep communities informed on the importance of regularly integrating healthy activities into their lifestyle. We recently added newly translated materials in Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Ilocano, and Tagalog.
- Developed the Integrating Alzheimer’s Messages into Chronic Disease Programs in collaboration with CDC. This communications guide supports the inclusion of brain health messages in chronic risk reduction programs.
Community-Clinical Frameworks and New Course
We’re taking this work even further by developing an Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Community-Clinical Linkages Framework, which will be a practical guide for state health departments and a model that connects adults, beginning in midlife, to comprehensive brain health care.
And because access to care can be especially challenging in rural communities, another initiative is equipping Community Health Workers with specialized training in dementia risk reduction, early detection, caregiving, and evidence-based care. Based on the success of the pilot, NACDD is developing a streamlined curriculum and implementation model that organizations can adapt to meet state and community needs.
We also recently launched a new course in our Online Learning Center, Building Healthcare Partnerships: Community-Clinical Linkages for Chronic Disease. The self-paced course offers practical strategies for building partnerships between public health and healthcare, strengthening referral processes, and connecting people to community-based programs.
Additional courses focused on arthritis and osteoarthritis care will be available this fall. (Watch our recent Chronic Disease Connect Connect webinar If You Build It Will They Come? A Community-Clinical Linkage Model For Arthritis Care, which introduces the Public Health Framework for Collaborative Osteoarthritis Management and Wellbeing, outlining its key components and the role each partner plays in supporting implementation.)
Building Healthy Communities
Healthy aging is shaped by more than healthcare. The places where we live can make it easier, or harder, to stay active and connected. NACDD’s Active People, Healthy NationSM Walkability Action Institute helps communities use transportation and community design to make walking, biking, rolling, and public transit safer and more accessible. This year, we welcomed 10 new interdisciplinary teams into the WAI National Alumni Network, expanding a growing community of leaders working to create activity-friendly places for people of all ages.
Well-being across the lifespan is something we all have a stake in, whether for ourselves, our families, or our communities. Healthy aging requires intentional investments in people, partnerships, and communities. I’m grateful to the Members, partners, and public health professionals leading this work every day. Together, we can ensure that more people have the opportunity not only to live longer, but to remain healthy, engaged, and connected throughout their lives.