May 23, 2022
National Poll on Healthy Aging marks five years, brings together leading aging experts for webinar
On May 19, IHPI, in partnership with AARP, hosted a webinar to celebrate five years of the National Poll on Healthy Aging.
On May 19, the University of Michigan Institution for Healthcare Policy & Innovation (IHPI), in partnership with AARP, hosted a webinar to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA) and bring together distinguished aging experts to discuss the latest research and opportunities to enhance health as we age.
The NPHA, a recurring, nationally representative household survey, taps into the perspectives of older adults to inform the public, health care providers, policymakers, and advocates on health, health care, and health policy affecting U.S. adults age 50 to 80 and their families. Since its launch in 2017, the poll has produced 46 reports and 10 poll extras on a variety of aging-related topics, including loneliness, mental health, telehealth, ageism, and sexual health. The poll is directed by IHPI and sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center.
IHPI Director John Ayanian, M.D., M.P.P., kicked off the webinar and introduced Debra Whitman, Ph.D., M.A., AARP's executive vice president and chief public policy officer. She talked about AARP and IHPI's close collaboration on the poll and highlighted AARP's mission, research and policy initiatives, and resources to support healthy aging nationwide and around the world.
Next, Preeti Malani, M.D., M.S., M.S.J., NPHA director, U-M Chief Health Officer, and professor of internal medicine, discussed the poll's impact over the last five years, particularly its role in sharing timely findings on older adults' experiences throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. She also summarized new poll data, published just before the webinar, showing that most older adults feel their health is the same or better than before the pandemic, but some subgroups may need more support to achieve healthy aging.
Malani then welcomed fellow panelists Louise Aronson, M.D., M.F.A., author, geriatrician, and professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, and Vijeth Iyengar, Ph.D., AARP's director of global aging.
Aronson is the New York Times best-selling author of the book Elderhood, which outlines a series of research-based arguments and conclusions that challenge assumptions about aging in the U.S. In the webinar, she elaborated on the importance of reframing attitudes about aging and identifying opportunities to revamp health care systems, homes, and communities to make healthy aging more accessible and equitable for all older adults.
Iyengar, a cognitive neuroscientist by training who leads AARP's initiatives addressing global aging issues, shared insights on healthy aging from a global perspective. Specifically, he highlighted international collaborations and AARP research efforts focused on combatting the harmful effects of ageism, improving digital equity among older adults, and examining how various countries are supporting their growing aging populations.
The webinar concluded with the panelists fielding questions from the audience.
Resources & publications mentioned:
- AARP Research
- AARP International
- Elderhood and other aging-related publications by Louise Aronson
- World Health Organization Aging Research & Initiatives
- Aging Readiness & Competitiveness (ARC 3.0) Report
- NPHA reports and poll extras on falls, ageism, delayed care, patient portals, loneliness, telehealth, and aging well in a pandemic