Institute For The Future

Living Longer Aging Well Map

Redesigning our experience in the next decade

By 2025, older people will compose a greater proportion of our society than at any time in human history. In the next decade, age-related illnesses and labor dynamics threaten to strain our institutions and support systems in unprecedented ways, upending assumptions about what it means to age well. The biological and cultural benchmarks we’ve taken for granted are shifting fundamentally. To address the varied and competing needs of aging in the next 10 years, we’ll look to both social and technological shifts to holistically support four core facets of aging well—body, mind, wealth, and relationships. The human experience of aging hangs in the balance.

This map explores innovations that bring together shifts in society and technology to address people’s multifaceted needs. These fundamental shifts are often leveraged separately. But emerging efforts to combine them reveal opportunities for a holistic redesign of our aging experience. From programs enacted by our formal institutions to narratives and practices emerging within communities, this convergence holds the power to transform how we work, play, live, and die.

Consider this map a tool to redesign our future health, well-being, and technology in a truly person-centered way. By taking this multifaceted approach, we gain the insight to design products, services, and ultimately systems for future generations as we usher in an age of longevity.