Healthy Aging in Public Health Systems: Implementation, Equity, and Real-world Impact

Population aging is reshaping public health priorities and creating an urgent need for inclusive, sustainable, and evidence-informed approaches that promote prevention, independence, wellbeing, and participation across diverse communities. Public health systems are increasingly exploring digital and technology-enabled approaches to support healthy aging, but their impact depends on more than technical capability. Effective implementation requires attention to system readiness, workforce capacity, accessibility, affordability, trust, governance, sustainability, and the social and structural conditions that shape health outcomes in later life.This Research Topic will examine how public health systems, community organizations, and cross-sector partnerships can implement, evaluate, and scale approaches that support healthy aging and reduce inequalities. While digital technologies may be considered where relevant, the primary focus will be on implementation processes, population-level impact, equity, service and system transformation, and the conditions required for sustainable adoption. Contributions focused solely on the development, technical performance, or clinical use of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence will fall outside the primary scope unless they address broader public health implementation and real-world outcomes.Contributions may address (but are not limited to) the following themes:- Implementation and scale-up of healthy aging strategies in public health systems- Equity, accessibility, affordability, and digital inclusion in later life- Public health system readiness, workforce capacity, and organizational change- Community-based prevention, health promotion, and healthy aging interventions- Evaluation of population-level outcomes, including wellbeing, independence, participation, and health equity- Policy, governance, financing, and sustainability of healthy aging initiatives- Cross-sector collaboration among public health, social care, aged care, community organizations, and technology providers- Co-design and community participation in healthy aging services and interventions- Barriers and enablers affecting underserved, rural, culturally diverse, and socially isolated older populations- Technology-enabled approaches where they support broader implementation, equity, and public health objectives Topic editors: Van-Hau Trieu, Lemai Nguyen, Enkai Guo Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86597/healthy-aging-in-public-health-systems-implementation-equity-and-real-world-impact