More people die annually from cardiovascular disease than from any other cause. As populations age, urbanization spreads, and the control of infectious and childhood diseases improves, cardiovascular disease prominence rises alongside things like high-fat diets, smoking, and sedentary lifestyles. The global policymaking community and national health systems alike have taken notice of the existing major burden of cardiovascular disease and its projected growth and have embarked on dual-pronged prevention and treatment agendas to avert cardiovascular disease deaths and improve health and wellbeing for all. These increases, moreover, are expected to continue as global society ages even more dramatically – the global population over 60 is predicted to double by mid-century, reaching 2 billion, and for the first time in human history the will be more old than young in societies across the globe.

Existing efforts to combat cardiovascular diseases are realizing success—fewer and fewer people are dying prematurely as a result of heart attacks.3 In some European countries, heart attack deaths have been more than halved over the past 30 years.4 Despite advances in the prevention and management of many chronic conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, and cancer, the medical community has been less successful in reducing mortality or hospitalizations attributed to heart failure. Perversely, falling mortality rates attributed to heart attack actually results in an increased number of long-term survivors of coronary heart disease that are likely to go on to develop heart failure.

View the report here.

In 2020, as COVID-19 spread across the globe, everything about the way we live and work changed.

Workplaces quickly became virtual, cities dispersed, and
a “new normal” began to take hold. For older adults, who are known to be at the greatest risk for infection, the data paints a stark reality. Adults over 80 experience death at five times the global average. In the US, 8 out of 10 deaths have been in adults 65 years of age or older. The impacts of COVID-19 on older adults extend beyond physical health. Nearly one-third of Baby Boomers say confidence in their ability to retire has declined compared to one-quarter of all workers.

As societies around the world gradually reopen and as we consider the long-term impacts of COVID-19, we must identify and leverage our immediate learnings from the crisis and apply those to other related critical areas of need, including our approaches to healthy aging and the silver economy.

Two new reports from the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences find that major health systems are not currently ready for the introduction of new Alzheimer’s treatments. The research shows how several major countries could prepare their health systems to ensure patients can get Alzheimer’s treatments once they hit the market.

The two reports combine desk research with expert insights to provide a comprehensive review of Alzheimer’s disease in five European (EU5) countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the U.S. – with a focus on what healthcare systems could do to prepare for the introduction of a novel disease modifying treatment. The research follows the stages of the patient journey to assess the system-wide obstacles to the introduction of a new treatment and how these challenges might be overcome.

The reports were funded by Roche and released in July 2020 at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

In July 2020, GCOA released a new report on adult vaccinations, in partnership with the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR). Adult Vaccinations: Opportunities for Action, Barriers to Engagement, Paths to Healthier Aging shares insights from an expert symposium hosted by the two organizations in late 2019 on the urgency of vaccinations for adults to promote healthy aging. The expert perspectives in the report, which have grown in importance amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, address the individual and societal value of vaccines for older adults, the importance of vaccinations across the life course, and the challenges of vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.

Following the release of the report, AFAR and GCOA will host a joint webinar in late Summer 2020, offering a deeper dive on these insights and their implications in the COVID-19 era. The webinar will convene experts from science and business for an interactive discussion exploring how the ideas shared in the report can offer a road map as we work to ensure a future of health, stability, and renewed economic growth.

In June 2020, Aegon released its annual Retirement Readiness Survey. The 2020 survey explores the vital role of employers in helping workers successfully navigate their working lives and prepare for retirement, a role that has become even more crucial and precarious amid the pandemic. The report examines employer-sponsored retirement and other welfare benefits, flexible work arrangements, and workplace wellness programs. It discusses best practices and provides actionable recommendations for empowering workers. Indeed, while employers are a critical catalyst, they must be supported by public policy, and individuals must engage in the programs offered.
The survey findings identify ways employers can support their employees to extend their working lives and financially prepare for retirement:

• Cultivate an age-friendly workplace that recognizes the value and contributions of workers of all ages.
• Provide retirement, health, and welfare benefits — and design them with portability in mind so that workers can maintain them as their employment situation changes.
• Offer retirement planning services and financial advice.
• Promote financial literacy through training, education, or financial wellness programs.
• Encourage health and well-being by offering a workplace wellness program.
• Offer flexible work arrangements to help workers more easily balance their jobs and their personal lives.
• Facilitate lifelong learning to help workers keep their job skills up to date and relevant.

The report is based on findings from the ninth annual global survey of 15 countries spanning the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia that was conducted in 2020 at the early stages of the pandemic. It is a collaboration among Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement and nonprofits Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and Instituto de Longevidade Mongeral Aegon.

A May 2020 report from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Research provides a detailed view of the attitudes and behaviors of Millennial, Generation X, and Baby Boomer workers as they strive to attain long-term financial security, both before and during the current coronavirus pandemic. The report is based on data from a survey of more than 5,000 workers in the U.S. conducted in late 2019, and supplemented by a survey of 2,000 in April 2020.

As of April 2020, almost one in four U.S. workers say their confidence in their ability to retire comfortably has declined in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The report found 58 percent of workers have experienced one or more impacts to their employment situation as a result of the pandemic, including reduced work hours (29 percent), reduced salaries (17 percent), layoffs (16 percent), furloughs (11 percent), and early retirement (5 percent).

Importantly, the report also highlights opportunities that can help mitigate the negative economic effects of the pandemic and improve retirement prospects.

In November 2019, a multi-stakeholder group of experts, including GCOA and several leading patient, caregiver, and professional groups, launched the Heart Failure Charter. The Heart Failure Charter served as a call to action to reduce preventable heart failure hospitalizations and improve patient outcomes, targeting key unmet needs across the continuum of care where intervention and educational efforts can improve overall patient outcomes. The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, the National Alliance for Caregiving, and the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association are among the organizations leading this work.

In May 2020, the group launched a Patient Empowerment Tool for heart failure patients, along with a special addendum to help patients and their families navigate the global Covid-19 pandemic. The tool highlights key rights patients should know and offers high-level guidance to support self-care management and empowerment upon hospital discharge, while the Covid-19 addendum addresses particular concerns for heart failure patients during the global pandemic. Empowering heart failure patients can reduce their symptoms and contribute to better quality of life and fewer delays in the hospital because of a worsening condition.

The Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) Playbook Series captures best practices and key insights from the global business leaders who are embracing one of the most transformative mega-trends of our time: population aging. With the GCOA Playbook, we aim to help forward-thinking businesses and executives seize aging as a driver of engagement, productivity and competitive advantage. We built the GCOA Playbook upon proven aging strategies that stretch across all facets of a global business — from C-Suite and HR to marketing, from customer acquisition to employee retention, and from successful thought leadership to improving the bottom-line. Our featured companies are not only “walking the walk.” They are seeing real results.

A November 2019 report from Bank of America and the Gerontological Society of America, Longevity Fitness: Financial and Health Dimensions Across the Life Course, identified perseverance and attention to social connections, health, and finances as critical factors to help people thrive as they age. Longevity fitness describes how people can thrive, not just survive, through social, health, and wealth equity. The report sheds light on a growing body of literature showing the importance of cultivating social relationships with friends and close relatives, maintaining one’s health through prevention and lifestyle, and building wealth by living within one’s means and saving for the future. The report also concludes that policymakers, employers, and individuals can take actions now to give people the best chance of maintaining their longevity fitness as older adults.

In October 2019, GCOA, the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and the Permanent Mission of Antigua and Barbuda to the UN, along with three leading organizations addressing vision loss, brought together more than 60 UN ambassadors and leaders from global NGOs for an immersive dining experience directly connecting the growing numbers of people who are visually impaired with the 21st century megatrend of aging.

Dine in the Dark was an awareness-raising event during which guests participate in a sit-down meal while blindfolded to simulate the everyday experiences of those with vision loss. Inspired by the successful Dine in the Dark at the European Parliament in late 2018, GCOA, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Lighthouse Guild, National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and the Permanent Mission of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations brought this unforgettable event to the United Nations to highlight the urgent need for countries to prioritize action on eye health. Coming on the heels of the release of the first ever World Health Organization World report on vision, Dine in the Dark UN united policy makers, policy influencers, and other key stakeholders from the public, private, and NGO sectors around a shared priority to reduce the burden of avoidable vision loss.

In September 2019, Alzheimer’s Disease International released their latest World Alzheimer Report. The report examines attitudes to dementia, based on survey responses from almost 70,000 people across 155 countries and territories. The report reveals that stigma around dementia is preventing people from seeking the information, advice, support, and medical help that could dramatically improve their length and quality of life.

Some of the key findings of the report include:

• Almost 80% of the general public are concerned about developing dementia at some point and 1 in 4 people think that there is nothing we can do to prevent dementia
• 35% of carers across the world said that they have hidden the diagnosis of dementia of a family member
• Over 50% of carers globally say their health has suffered as a result of their caring responsibilities even whilst expressing positive sentiments about their role
• Almost 62% of healthcare providers worldwide think that dementia is part of normal aging
• 40% of the general public think doctors and nurses ignore people with dementia

The number of people living with dementia is forecast to more than triple, from over 50 million currently, to 152 million by 2050.

In September 2019, Bank of America published a report exploring how employees and employers view improvements in the workplace through the lens of financial wellness, healthcare costs, caregiving, and diversity and inclusion. The 2019 report found growth in financial wellness programs, it also identified areas for needed improvement, including closing the gender gap in retirement savings and engaging on employers’ caregiving responsibilities.

The report suggested that employers have an opportunity to help their employees to overcome challenges uncovered in the report through decisions they make about their benefits plans, financial wellness programs, and diversity initiatives.

In September 2019, IFPMA and the Health Policy Partnership published a new report on a life-course approach to immunization. Launched along the sidelines of the European Commission and World Health Organization Global Vaccination Summit, the report offers a policy framework for countries to maximize individual and population-wide health and economic benefits of a life-course approach to immunization. It draws on research from six countries – Australia, Japan, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America – and their experience in controlling vaccine-preventable diseases by implementing a life-course approach to immunization. Taking a life-course approach can improve health, support health system sustainability, and promote economic prosperity.

A 2019 study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, aimed to more fully assess the economic impact of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias by identifying and examining the so-called hidden costs, which extend far beyond the person affected and the formal healthcare system.

By 2030, it is estimated that the global cost of dementia could grow to US$2 trillion, which could overwhelm health and social care systems. The new report finds that these estimates are only the tip of the iceberg. Indirect and intangible costs, including those borne by caregivers and employers, begin to mount long before diagnosis and often go uncounted. In the US, some 18.5 billion hours of informal care are estimated to be provided by caregivers of people with dementia each year. If they are forced to reduce their working hours, take early retirement, or are absent from work because of stress, this not only impacts their employers, but they may be less able to save for retirement, or need to dip into their savings to get by.

Click here to read GCOA’s Dementia Innovation Readiness Index, which analyzes the readiness of countries to integrate innovative dementia solutions into their healthcare systems and policy frameworks.

The Global Alliance on Heart Failure and Healthy Aging is a multisectoral initiative that aims to reframe heart failure as an urgent priority on the global health agenda in the context of 21st-century aging. While heart failure does increase in prevalence with age, its symptoms, such as fatigue and shortness of breath, must not be mistaken as normal parts of aging or as other co-morbidities associated with older age.

The Alliance consists of experts at the intersection of aging, cardiovascular health, healthcare policy and practice, patient advocacy, and communications – all committed to stimulating education, awareness, and policy action that will improve understanding, lead to earlier diagnosis, and mitigate individual, family and economic burdens of this insufficiently recognized and costly disease condition.

Formed in 2019, the Alliance was borne out of a series of think tanks held by GCOA around the world throughout 2018. The Alliance includes more than 30 partners from diverse geographies, disciplines, and areas of expertise, aligned by a Consensus Statement and Call to Action, and pursuing research and strategic communications to advance its goals.

In June 2019, GCOA partnered with the Tokyo-based Health and Global Policy Institute to convene a policy roundtable alongside the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting. Held at the Nikkei Head Office in Tokyo, the roundtable brought together a select group of cross-sector experts to share their insights on moving vaccine policies forward and positioning vaccine policies within the global health agenda of the G20 and the WHO Decade of Healthy Ageing. In August 2019, the two organizations released reports in English and in Japanese summarizing the key recommendations from the roundtable.