Cogent Gerontology

Successful Aging: Perspectives from Different Cultures

What is successful aging? The answer to this question may vary widely across ethnic and cultural contexts, socio-economic backgrounds, minority populations, and geographic settings. For example, successful aging is predominantly framed in the Western context as the maintenance of independence or the absence of cognitive and functional deficits in later years. However, in some indigenous communities such as Alaska Native populations, those who have aged successfully are referred to as “elders,” a term that denotes resilient survivors of historical traumas who lead multigenerational households and serve as repositories and transmitters of indigenous language and traditions. The concept of successful aging is thus not only culturally constructed but also deeply relational and dynamic, being informed by individual and intergenerational life experiences interacting within broader socio-economic and historical contexts.  Understanding these different conceptualizations is important to developing pathways toward successful aging for specific populations in various contexts. This Collection aims to explore the varied lenses of successful aging, recognizing that concepts such vitality and independence may not reflect what older people, families, caregivers, and communities view as desirable in the later stages of life.

The World Health Organization has designated the promotion of successful aging as a global priority. To answer this call, it is imperative that we first accurately characterize and understand the diversity of perspectives about desirable aging outcomes. Such an understanding would not only inform the work of health professionals caring for older adults at an individual level but also guide macro-level interventions in the realm of health policy and public health. Unfortunately, the differential understanding of successful aging remains underspecified in current paradigms of health promotion for older adults. Recently, the Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) paradigm has gained policy traction in the United States. However, most operationalizations of older persons’ goals and values under the “Matters Most” domain remain narrowly focused on functional independence and end-of-life care rather than eliciting a broader range of individually and culturally constituted goals in later life. As we design age-friendly care and build age-friendly communities in a range of settings, it is crucial that we incorporate cross-cultural perceptions of successful aging so that health outcomes for older adults are aligned with and affirm the aspirations of all people in their later years.

We welcome submissions from the global academic community in a range of categories including research manuscripts, review articles, guidelines, and opinion pieces that are based on implementation experience. Submissions should address the spectrum of understandings and approaches to successful aging in different cultural, socio-economic, and geographic contexts and settings. Given the broad range of these populations and settings, sub-topics may include but are not limited to the following:

• Rural vs urban aging
• LGBTQ health
• Aging in place
• Cultural perspectives
• Developing countries
• Aging in special populations

Please contact Dr. MK Huffman at mary.huffman@taylorandfrancis.com with any queries about discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.

Dr. Howe is a nationally recognized gerontologist who has served in many leadership roles, including the President and then Board Chair of the Gerontological Society of America. She is the past Editor of Gerontology and Geriatrics Education and current Editor of Cogent Gerontology. Her work has focused on community development, interprofessional teamwork, social welfare, and rural aging.

Dr. Omar Amir is the Senior Associate Editor of Cogent Gerontology and Assistant Professor within the Division of Geriatrics at UCLA. Dr. Amir is a leader in Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) implementation, the design of innovative models of interdisciplinary geriatric care including geriatric co-management with other specialties such as surgery and interprofessional age-friendly medical education.

The Guest Advisors declare no conflict of interest regarding this work.