An important World Health Organization (WHO) report that demonstrates how an individual’s earliest years strongly influence lifelong health and well-being features contributions from researchers with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR).

Ritu Sadana, head of older people, ageing and lifecourse at the WHO and affiliate of the UCLA CHPR, led work on the WHO report, “Framework to implement a life course approach in practice.”

“We must recognize the value and need to invest in every stage of life including older people, and how the returns on investments are accumulated across the life course and, importantly, for the next generation,” said Sadana, a global leader in public health for more than three decades. “Evidence shows that early intervention in critical periods — including efforts focused on maternal and child health — can build up physical and mental capacities and reserves for later life.”

Kathryn Kietzman, a senior researcher scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR), contributed as well. Kietzman’s work focuses primarily on the long-term health and social care needs of vulnerable populations, including older adults, demonstrates the significance of the “life course” approach across an individual’s lifespan, including into adulthood and the end of life.

“A key aspect of the life course approach is to identify opportunities to engage with subgroups who may be overlooked, including older people, in relation to services offered to meet their development and health needs,” Kietzman said. “A significant element of that is creating age-friendly environments that enable people of all ages to actively participate in their communities, maintain their health, and live with dignity and independence as they age.”

Read the story on the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health website.