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Healthy People 2030 and Older Adults

Healthy People 2030 sets measurable national objectives with 10-year targets to improve the health and well-being of all people. Twenty of those objectives are specifically focused on reducing health problems and improving quality of life for older adults. Healthy People 2030’s population data make it easy to see how older adults’ health compares to national targets.

Use the Healthy People 2030 older adults objectives to:

  • Set your own targets for your programs
  • Find practical tools, including evidence-based resources your community, state, or organization can use
  • Monitor national progress – and use our data as a benchmark

ODPHP has curated a set of objectives from Healthy People 2030 that are directly or indirectly related to healthy aging into a custom list so they're easy for you to reference and track.

Save the Healthy Aging Custom List to your bookmarks.

Access data for older adults 

For many Healthy People 2030 objectives, data are available by age group.* Follow the steps below to access data for older adults.

Find data for specific objectives

  1. Navigate to the Objective Overview page for a specific objective.
  2. Click the Data tab in the left-hand menu or the “See detailed data for this objective” button.
  3. In the Demographic Group drop-down menu in either the Data Table or Data Chart tab, select “Age group.” 
  4. Click “Show Data” to see data for different age groups — including adults age 65 years and older if data are available for this group.

Some objectives also have disparities data available. When viewing a data table, use the “Show disparities data” toggle to turn disparities data on or off. Learn more about Healthy People 2030 disparities data.

View all objectives with data for older adults

  1. Pull up the Healthy People 2030 objective search tool or enter a search term in the search bar 
  2. In the Population Group Data drop-down menu on the left, select “Age group populations”
  3. Click “Filter by subgroup” and select the age group you want to see data for
  4. Click the “Submit” button to see your results

*Some objectives don’t have age group data yet, but check back periodically. We’ll add age group data when they’re available.

Key Indicators for Healthy Aging

This data snapshot highlights Healthy People 2030 Objectives that are critical to healthy aging, specifically focusing on the social determinants of health and important health behaviors — like physical activity and healthy eating.

Download the document [PDF - 366.72 KB]

Find evidence-based resources to use in your work

A person in a yellow sweater is completing work in front of a laptop

Evidence-based resources (EBRs) are published reviews of studies and interventions to improve health. And Healthy People 2030 includes many EBRs that are specifically related to older adults and healthy aging. These EBRs are helpful for planning and implementing programs and policies, writing grants, providing clinical guidance, conducting research, or teaching people about healthy aging.

You can access EBRs that are relevant to a specific objective from its Objective Overview or Data page. Just click the Evidence-Based Resources tab in the left-hand menu.

You can also browse a list of EBRs that are related to older adults more generally.

Browse older adults EBRs 

Social Determinants of Health and Older Adults

Social Determinants of Health have a big impact on our chances of staying healthy as we age. Healthy People’s actionable scenarios highlight ways professionals can support older adults’ health and well-being.

Learn about Social Determinants of Health and Older Adults

Sample scenario

A project manager at an agency that promotes health for older adults is working on a falls prevention program. Here’s how they might use Healthy People 2030’s tools and resources: