Supporting Community Conversations on Healthy Aging
Aging is a fact of life and, although we are seeing the human lifespan increase globally, the number of years people spend in good health is staying roughly the same. According to the World Health Organization, health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. We can do more to ensure that people in communities around the world are achieving and maintaining health as they age.
To support the Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity, the National Academy of Medicine collaborated with HelpAge International, a global nonprofit organization improving the lives of older adults around the world.
HelpAge International works at different levels, including at the individual and community levels, through empowering older people and their associations (OPAs) and the local partners who work with them. To disseminate the key messages of the Roadmap for Healthy Longevity, HelpAge International held community workshops in 3 countries and implemented their Voices Framework to broaden its reach. HelpAge also developed a training toolkit to support community conversations and spread the messages outlined in the Global Roadmap report.
The NAM worked with the HelpAge to develop a module (found in HelpAge’s Voice Training Toolkit) focused on recommendations and messaging from the Global Roadmap report. This module includes interactive activities, aligned with the five activity domains in HelpAge’s Voice Framework. The module encourages community conversations about enhancing healthy longevity and learning about what actions can be prioritized locally.
Toolkit
Getting Older People’s Voices Heard
The Voice Training Facilitator’s Guide: Voice and Healthy Longevity module was created through a collaboration between HelpAge and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) to help put into action recommendations from the NAM’s Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity. This module offers community-based organizations, government entities, and other stakeholders the tools to conduct trainings on healthy longevity principles and spark community conversations and action toward healthy aging. By engaging older adults and prioritizing collaboration, communities around the world can drive positive change and promote health and well-being across the life course.
The training materials explore the principles of healthy longevity, identify barriers to health and well-being for older adults, consider the importance of older adults’ voices, and examine what actions can be taken in communities to promote healthy longevity.
Global Workshops
In 2023, HelpAge launched the rollout of the Voice Training Facilitator’s Guide: Voice and Healthy Longevity module with pilot workshops around the world using the newly created materials. Three partner organizations were selected to participate: the Nsindagiza Organization in Rwanda, the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, and HelpAge Cambodia. The partners participated in a train-the-trainers session and then convened one-day workshops bringing together older adults and key stakeholders in their communities. Building on the success of the pilot workshops, additional workshops took place in late 2024 and early 2025 in South Africa, Thailand, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Pilot Workshops
Nsindagiza Organization
Held February 28, 2023 in Rwanda, the workshop brought together 28 participants, including older people, local authorities, community organizations, church leaders, representatives from the private sector, and journalists.
Following the training, a national workshop with decision makers led to a milestone achievement: The inclusion of a dedicated section on older people in the national Community Health Workers Guide. This addition strengthens community-based support by equipping health workers with guidance on community care, promoting healthy aging, and advocating for the rights and needs of older people. This initiative enhances the recognition of older people within health systems and fosters more inclusive, age responsive community health practices.
American University of Beirut
Held March 3, 2023 at the American University of Beirut, the workshop drew 20 participants: 12 older adults from the community, 6 staff members at nongovernmental organizations, one journalist, and one academic researcher.
HelpAge Cambodia
Held March 7, 2023, the workshop included 92 participants from 14 different provinces in Cambodia. Participants included employees of government, local nongovernmental organizations, and Older People’s Associations (OPAs)
Commentary
Localizing Global Health for Older People Through Community Training
This NAM Perspectives Commentary explores how global frameworks for healthy longevity can be translated into community-level action by centering the voices and experiences of older people. Drawing on the Voice and Healthy Longevity training module developed by HelpAge and the NAM, the authors highlight workshops in countries including Cambodia, Lebanon, Rwanda, South Africa, Thailand, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The commentary shows how older people identified local barriers and enablers to healthy aging, from ageism and limited care systems to volunteering, advocacy, and community support, while underscoring that their meaningful participation is essential to ensuring policies and programs reflect their rights, needs, and priorities.
