Healthy Ageing Strategy: update

The Healthy Ageing Strategy presents the strategic direction for change and a set of actions to improve the health of older people, into and throughout their later years.

Healthy Ageing Strategy

New Zealand’s Healthy Ageing Strategy was released in December 2016. It sets the strategic direction for the next 10 years for the delivery of services to people into and throughout their later years. The vision for the Strategy is that: Older people live well, age well and have a respectful end of life in age-friendly communities.

The Healthy Ageing Strategy and detailed action plan were developed through extensive collaboration with the health and social sectors in New Zealand and are aligned to the World Health Organization’s Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health 2016.

The Healthy Ageing Strategy’s key strategic themes are:

Prevention, healthy ageing and resilience throughout people’s older years
Living well with long-term health conditions
Improving rehabilitation and recovery from acute episodes
Better support for older people with high and complex needs
Respectful end-of-life care.

Key achievements over the first two years

Implementation of a nationwide programme of falls and fracture prevention and treatment initiatives, led by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and District Health Boards
improved remuneration, training and employment conditions for care and support workers in aged care
initial work on a National Framework to improve consistency and quality for home and community support sector services
significant progress by the Office for Seniors in supporting the establishment of age-friendly cities and communities, and Hamilton and New Plymouth being accepted into the World Health Organization Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities.

For more information visit Priority actions: The first two years

Our focus for 2019 - 2022

There are 26 priority actions for 2019 - 2022, which sit under nine key focus areas, and complement the ongoing work related to the priorities of the first two years:

Maintain and enhance older people's capacity through supportive environments, health promotion and disease minimisation and prevention.
Improve the wellbeing of people by coordinating assistance to socially isolated older people.
Prevent unnecessary acute hospitalisations and emergency department attendances.
Support rehabilitation closer to home.
Implement models of care that are needs based, person-centred and equitable.
Support the capacity and capability of the workforce to provide care and support for older people with a more complex and diverse range of health and support needs.
Improve support for informal carers.
Monitor the performance of the system in implementing the Strategy. A priority action to enable this is the development of an outcomes and measurement framework for this purpose.
Strengthen implementation of the New Zealand Dementia Care Framework and cognitive impairment pathways.

For more information visit Priority actions: 2019 – 2022

Healthy Ageing Strategy: update