Healthy Ageing

As more individuals live longer lives, our focus must shift to developing the benefits these additional years can bring. Health is intricately linked to one’s wellbeing, and important throughout the course of life – and quality of life is what makes a long life desirable. This requires prioritizing health span over lifespan, and recognizing that reaching advanced age with good health, autonomy, meaningful relationships and a sense of purpose is what makes a life well lived.

Healthy life expectancy, however, cannot rest solely on individual choices. Health is shaped by the natural environment and the environments we inhabit: our homes, communities, and the broader social structures around us. Environments and context contribute to our health and quality of life in older age – whether healthy behaviours are easy or difficult, whether opportunities for participation exist, and whether people can maintain their functional ability as they age. Functional ability as defined by the WHO’s Decade of Healthy Ageing combines a person’s intrinsic capacity with their environment and how they interact within it.

Creating health-enabling environments means redesigning our systems across multiple dimensions. Healthcare must evolve toward prevention and early intervention. But the physical, mental, social and emotional dimension of living well must also be addressed. At Velux Stiftung, we have so far focused on a bio-psycho-social approach to healthy ageing and supported research that aims to sustain or increase the functional ability of older people. From 2026 onwards, our focus will shift increasingly towards supporting research on these environmental factors. The aim is to enable people to remain healthy, contribute to society, and pursue what matters to them for as long as possible.