Evidence-Led Pathways: Adapting Life Course Approaches to Healthy Ageing

Journal Name :  Journal of Social and Economic Development (ABDC-C)

The paper focuses on the contemporary phenomenon of ageing in India and provides a distinct lens on equitable and responsive policy thinking. It explores how life course approaches can shape inclusive and responsive policy frameworks for healthy ageing. It advocates a life course approach to understanding and responding to the need for healthy ageing in India, emphasizing the value of longitudinal and contextual data to inform policies and interventions. The article underscores how ageing must be seen not just as a condition of old age, but as the result of cumulative social, biological and environmental influences across the lifespan – all of which require attention and response to. The authors propose an evidence-led framework that integrates early-life interventions, health promotion, family transitions and social determinants to support healthy ageing holistically. The paper calls for disaggregated individual and community-level data systems to inform inclusive planning for India’s impending longevity society.