Working with partner agencies across the country, the EPA has developed a national program that will encourage communities to include healthy aging and environmental issues in their community planning. The program will also recognize communities that support healthy aging in their older adult citizens.
Raising Awareness About the Importance of Healthy Aging
The EPA program, called "Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging," is designed to raise awareness about older adults’ needs for healthy aging options that include physical activity.
The EPA term for community planning that includes healthy aging is “Smart Growth.” Smart Growth describes community development that creates “attractive, distinctive, walkable communities that give people of varying age, wealth, and physical ability a range of safe, affordable, convenient choices where they live and how they get around.”
The EPA Smart Growth plan also ensures that existing resources are used efficiently, and that land and buildings that shape communities are preserved.
How the EPA Will Support Healthy Aging
The EPA program, called "Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging," encourages and supports communities to foster healthy aging by improving the quality of life for older adults in U.S. counties, cities and towns. This includes American Indian communities.
By recognizing the need for older adults to regularly participate in structured and unstructured physical activities, communities can promote active and healthy aging by offering a variety of accessible physical activity programs, including more self-directed physical activity opportunities for people over age 60.
Partners in Healthy Aging
The EPA's healthy aging program will spearhead a multi-agency effort, developed in partnership with the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Council on Aging's Center for Healthy Aging, the National Blueprint Office, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active for Life program.
