What makes people live long and keep well? Advancing the science of ‘healthy aging’ through examining the lay perspectives of older adults in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Canada’s population is aging. Demographic forecasts indicate that Canada’s population structure will change dramatically over the next two decades, such that 25% of the population will be over 65 by 2036, nearly double what it was in 2009. The implications of a rapidly aging population are among Canada’s most pressing health and social policy issues. Optimizing ‘healthy aging’ is a research and policy goal in Canada, however, ways of measuring ‘healthy aging’ often do not account for what older adults consider as being important. This project takes advantage of data from interviews with 50,000 Canadian men and women aged 45 to 85 years in the CLSA. We will use novel text-mining approaches to synthesize and quantify themes in what the study participants reported when asked, ‘What helps people to live long and keep well?’ We will examine the common themes across socio-demographic factors, including sex/gender, socioeconomic status, language, race/ethnicity, and province. We will also examine the themes according to a range of health measures, such as chronic disease diagnoses, mobility impairments, and self-reported health. Overall, this project will advance scientific thought by accounting for the perspectives and voices of over 50,000 older Canadians to generate new evidence on the landscape of ‘healthy aging’ across Canada.