Advancing Health and Well-Being Across the Lifespan
This November thousands of public health professionals will gather in San Antonio, Texas for the APHA Annual Meeting and Expo. This year’s theme, Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan, asks us to consider how health is shaped over the lifecourse and how public health can support people at every stage of life.
Experiences and conditions at each stage affect health and well-being in the present and can shape opportunities and outcomes in the years that follow. Supporting health across the lifespan means building strong foundations in childhood, helping people navigate transitions and changing roles in adulthood, and promoting health, connection, autonomy, and dignity in older age.
This guide highlights PHERN and Community Commons resources focused on children and youth, young and emerging adults, and older adults. Together, they offer curated data, tools, stories, and practical resources to deepen conference conversations and support learning and action.
Build Strong Foundations for Children and Youth
Childhood and adolescence are crucial periods of physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development. Experiences and conditions during these years shape learning, relationships, physical and mental health, and overall well-being—and can have lasting effects throughout life.
Children and youth thrive when they have supportive relationships and reliable access to health care, nutritious food, quality education, safe places to live and play, and opportunities to connect. Together, these foundations support healthy development and foster safety, stability, and belonging.
Public health can strengthen these foundations by coordinating efforts across health care, education, child care, child welfare, and public safety. Priorities include comprehensive physical and mental health coverage, universal school meals, affordable and high-quality child care and early learning, family-supporting wages and income supports, adequate funding for schools to provide a high-quality education, investments in positive youth development, and gun violence prevention.
Support Emerging and Young Adults Through Transition
Young adulthood brings major transitions, including completing education, entering the workforce, leaving home, forming relationships, and becoming financially independent. These changes can create new possibilities while also adding stress during a period when many people are still developing their identities, relationships, and support systems.
Accessible education and training, affordable and stable housing, pathways to employment, and access to holistic health care can make the transition to independence more manageable. Together, these supports help young adults navigate new responsibilities and build stability as they enter adulthood.
Public health can support young adults by promoting policies and practices across health care, education, housing, employment, social welfare, and public safety. Priorities include expanding health coverage and ensuring continuity of care; increasing the availability of safe, affordable housing; removing age-based barriers to income supports; promoting jobs that offer living wages, predictable hours, and workplace protections; and advancing approaches to public safety and youth justice that prioritize prevention, diversion, and developmentally appropriate responses.
Promote Health, Connection, and Dignity Among Older Adults
Aging brings biological, psychological, and social changes. Illness, disability, and cognitive change are more common in older age and can affect daily life and independence, as well as shape priorities and care needs toward the end of life. Retirement and changes in income, roles, and relationships can affect financial well-being and social connection.
Older adults thrive when they have access to coordinated health and long-term care, affordable and accessible housing and transportation, and opportunities to remain active and socially connected. Together, these supports promote autonomy, connection, and quality of life.
Public health can work with older adults and partners across health care, housing, transportation, and social services to build age-friendly communities. Priorities include strengthening health coverage and affordable long-term services and supports; promoting fall prevention and chronic disease management; investing in nutrition, transportation, caregiver support, and senior centers; strengthening income supports and simplifying access to benefits; and preventing elder abuse and financial exploitation.
Advance Health Across the Lifespan
Advancing health across the lifespan means addressing the distinct needs of each life stage improving the conditions that shape health over time and across generations. This requires coordinated action across health care, education, housing, employment, transportation, and social services to meet immediate needs and support well-being throughout life.
The APHA Annual Meeting offers an opportunity to explore these connections and learn from approaches being used across sectors and communities. Use the resources in this guide to prepare for sessions, deepen conversations, and carry new ideas into your work after the conference.