CEPAR in collaboration with the International Centre for Future Health Systems (ICFHS) recently co-hosted a workshop exploring how societies can better support healthy ageing in the 21st century. A keynote address by Professor John Beard, from Columbia University, emphasised the importance of the World Health Organization’s Healthy Ageing Framework, which centres on an individual’s ability to do and be what they value. Professor Beard called for a fundamental shift from disease-based models of care toward a focus on intrinsic capacity and functional ability, arguing that this reframing has the potential to transform how ageing is understood and supported globally. He suggested that Australia could learn from the example of France, which is an early adopter in embedding the healthy ageing framework into national health system reform including via comprehensive capacity assessments in primary care.
The forum also showcased research by Dr Rafal Chomik from ICFHS, and Associate Professor Katja Hanewald from the UNSW Business School, on national and international trends in intrinsic capacity, functional ability, and longevity, highlighting both encouraging improvements and deepening inequities. Findings show gains in cognitive and physical capacity across successive cohorts, but also reveal steepening socioeconomic gradients in disability-free life expectancy in Australia.
Discussions underscored that while lifespans are increasing, gains in health and opportunity are not equitably distributed. “By focusing on intrinsic and functional ability and what older people value, we can move beyond disease-centred models and towards systems that support healthy, meaningful ageing,” said ICFHS co-director Professor Patricia Davidson.
The event called for a reorientation of health, social, and economic systems, away from siloed service delivery and toward integrated, equity-focused solutions. “Imagine if hospitals were rewarded not for processing higher volumes of patients but for whether those patients maintained the capacity to live the life they wanted,” said Professor Beard.