Synonyms
Definition
In recent years, the concept of healthy aging is understood to stand for the absence of limitations, pain, disease, disabilities and frailty, plus the acquisition, the extension and maintenance of functional abilities (WHO 2015a; Full Life Care 2019; see also “Aging Well” in this volume). Hence, today’s healthy aging crises is crises of (A) not doing enough in the realm of staying healthy, that is, extending one’s functional abilities (emotional strength, intellectual ability, musculoskeletal strength, developing and keeping a strong immune system, as well as keeping the ability of getting a full night’s sleep), and (B) not doing enough to ward off “the gradual accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage. Over time, this damage leads to a gradual decrease in physiological reserves, an increased risk of many diseases, and a general decline in the capacity of the individual” (WHO 2015a: 25).
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Aspalter, C. (2020). Healthy Aging. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_409-1
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