O.3. Scientific session: Advancing healthy ageing: implementing WHO/Europe’s Ageing is Living strategy through Europe
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Population ageing is accelerating across the WHO European Region and globally. By 2050, the number of people aged 80 and over is projected to more than double, increasing demand on health and care systems, social services and labour markets. At the same time, the Region faces a significant gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, with many people living longer but with complex health and care needs. The challenge is therefore not only longer lives, but how these years are lived—whether people are able to remain independent, connected and engaged in their communities. This depends on intrinsic capacity, environments, and timely action across prevention, care and broader systems. The WHO/Europe Strategy Ageing is Living: Promoting a Lifetime of Health and Well-being (2026–2030) provides a framework for coordinated action to respond to this transformation. As a key priority under the Second European Programme of Work 2026–2030, the Strategy shifts from disease-based approaches to maintaining functional ability through a public health and systems approach—integrating prevention, primary health care, integrated care, age-friendly environments and action on ageism. Its implementation requires collaboration across governments, academia and civil society, and stronger translation of research, innovation and emerging fields such as geroscience into policy and practice. It also requires leadership capable of navigating complexity, aligning sectors and driving system change across national and local levels. This workshop brings together WHO/Europe, EUPHA and leading academic partners to connect policy, research and implementation. Natasha Azzopardi Muscat and Yongjie Yon will introduce the Strategy and highlight priorities emerging from extensive stakeholder consultations. Charlotte Marchandise will focus on the leadership dimension of implementation and facilitate a live demonstration of VITA CITY, a systems thinking simulation used in the Ageing is Living Leadership Course, in which workshop participants take on competing roles to experience how coordinated, multi-stakeholder leadership translates strategy into action. Zoltan Ungvari will present the Semmelweis Study, linking geroscience to prevention, by examples how research findings can be translated into practice. Stefania Boccia will share insights from the PROPHET project on personalized prevention. It will be demonstrated that personalised prevention enables healthy ageing by shifting from one-size-fits-all approaches to dynamic, risk-based strategies integrating omic, clinical, lifestyle, and social data. The session provides a platform for exchange between policy and research communities, with a focus on practical pathways for implementation and the role of partnerships in advancing equitable and resilient ageing and an interactive section. Key messages • The WHO/Europe Strategy Ageing is Living (2026–2030) provides a system-level framework to transform population ageing into an opportunity by maintaining functional ability. • Effective implementation requires stronger leadership, partnerships and translation of evidence into policy and practice—an area where the WHO–EUPHA collaboration plays a key role.
Language: English
Subfield: Life-span and Life-course Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,181
OpenAlex ID: W7223692849