This story is part of our April 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here.
For 71-year-old Patty Vander Dussen, aging well required
resilience she never expected to need.
A lifelong athlete, she took up running in her late 50s and
completed marathons, ultra-distance races and trail runs before
discovering she had serious heart issues. In her 60s, she
underwent cryoablation for atrial fibrillation, and at 70, open
heart surgery to correct severe aortic stenosis.
“That was the hardest and most painful thing I have ever been
through,” she says. “I went from running every day to barely
walking five minutes around my house.”
Her recovery included monitored cardiac rehab, mental health
support and peer connection at Marshall Medical’s Pritikin
Intensive Cardiac Rehab in Placerville, where a small cohort of
fellow heart patients trained beside her on treadmills and shared
the same fears about returning to the lives they loved. The
structured routine and camaraderie helped restore her stamina and
her confidence. “It saved me mentally, emotionally and
physically,” she says.
Six months later, Vander Dussen completed the Gold Country Run in
El Dorado Hills. Today, she is back on her local trails alongside
familiar faces, motivated by her children and grandchildren. “As
you get older, I tell people, use it or lose it,” she says. “It’s
important to keep moving and keep pushing to get stronger — for
me and for my family.”
Patty’s journey reflects a shift in how we define healthy aging.
Longevity is no longer measured solely by medical and numerical
milestones, but by resilience, purposeful movement and meaningful
connections. Decades of research reinforce this insight, showing
that the strongest predictors of aging well often have less to do
with medical interventions and more to do with staying active,
maintaining autonomy and nurturing social connections.
One of the longest-running studies in American history — the
Harvard Study of Adult Development — has followed participants
for more than 80 years and found that strong, supportive
relationships lead to longer, better lives. Social ties to
family, friends and community outperform wealth, fame and even
genetics when it comes to long-term health and fulfillment.
That insight reflects a broader reframing in the science and
culture of aging. The question is no longer simply how long we
live, but how well.
The brain-body connection
Rachel Whitmer, professor of public health sciences and neurology
at UC Davis and co-director of its Alzheimer’s Disease Research
Center, has spent her career studying brain aging, Alzheimer’s
risk and what she calls exceptional aging.
Since 2018, she has co-led the LifeAfter90 Study with Paola
Gilsanz at Kaiser Permanente, following more than 1,300 adults in
their 90s and beyond from diverse backgrounds. The participants
offer striking glimpses of exceptional aging: among them are
92-year-old Lucie Smith, who still teaches online, and Tony
Francis, now 98, who celebrated his 97th birthday surrounded by
nearly 100 family and friends.
Whitmer distinguishes between length of life and quality of life.
“What’s the point of living longer if the quality of life is so
poor?” she asks. “We think not just about lifespan, but
healthspan, where you’re not just alive, but active, connected
and cognitively sharp.”
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Her research points to several predictors of healthy aging:
lifelong cardiovascular health and physical activity, along with
social engagement, which repeatedly shows up as a key correlate
of better brain health. She notes that connection is a biological
necessity. “Being socially engaged draws on so many aspects of
brain and body functioning — movement, communication and
emotional regulation — that it functions like a whole-body
intervention.”
She also emphasizes that it’s never too late to benefit from
healthy behaviors. “People sometimes think if they haven’t done
everything right earlier in life, it’s too late. That’s a myth,”
she says. “You can improve your brain health at any age.”
Rethinking aging in everyday life
Julie Bates, a social gerontologist and assistant director of the
Agency on Aging Area 4 in Sacramento, says fear-based narratives
about aging are deeply embedded in American culture.
“Aging does not automatically mean decrepit,” she says. “Dementia
is not a normal part of aging, and most older adults never end up
in a nursing facility. Yet culturally, we’ve been conditioned to
equate aging with decline.”
That perception is slowly shifting. Today’s workforce spans five
generations, and retirement can stretch for several decades. “We
now celebrate people living 30 to 40 years after retirement. And
most are doing it well with hobbies, travel, learning,
volunteering and community engagement. We don’t all have to be
marathon runners,” she says. “Find what brings you joy and do it
with others.”
Not all lessons in healthy aging come from labs and clinics.
Sometimes they come from lived experience.
For Jim Bohon, a 74-year-old Navy veteran and longtime community
volunteer, aging well has been intentional.
Jim Bohon used to think 60 was “ancient,” but now the 74-year-old
Navy veteran serves on aging councils and advocates for seniors.
He enjoys traveling with his wife Edna. (Photo by Tyrel Tesch)
“When I was younger, 60 seemed ancient,” he says. “Now I’m in my
mid-70s, and I realize life doesn’t end. It transforms.”
After retiring from government service and running small
businesses, Bohon has stayed engaged. He serves on the Advisory
Council for the Agency on Aging Area 4 and helps lead legislative
efforts through the California Senior Legislature, advocating for
housing, caregiving support and financial stability for older
adults.
Family history has also shaped his vigilance about his
cardiovascular health. Several male relatives died of heart
attacks in their 60s, so when Bohon experienced shortness of
breath, he sought care and began cholesterol treatment.
“My thoughts on aging well today are completely different than
they were when I was younger,” he says. For Bohon it means doing
the things he loves, like traveling with his wife, Edna, engaging
in civic work and maintaining close connections with family and
colleagues. He believes the key is to stay active, engaged and
curious.
“If you isolate, it affects every part of your life. But when you
stay involved and are physically active and mentally engaged, it
motivates you to keep going,” he says.
Insights from the clinic
In the clinical world, healthy aging is becoming more intentional
as well. Nicole Lamm, executive director of specialty nursing
services at Marshall Medical in El Dorado County, oversees the
implementation of the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, a
national effort built around four evidence-based priorities known
as the 4Ms: What Matters, Medications, Mentation and Mobility.
“It started because people are living longer,” she explains. “But
as you age, health care becomes more complex, not just inside
hospitals, but in everyday life, from grocery stores to
transportation. By 2030, nearly a quarter of our population will
be 65 or older, increasing the complexity of the services we
provide.”
The 4M framework gives patients more autonomy to direct their
personal health care. Instead of defaulting to aggressive
intervention, clinicians are encouraged to align care with
individual goals.
“If we focus on what matters for each individual, we provide the
right care to the right person,” Lamm says. “It’s not just about
living longer, it’s about maintaining a higher level of function
and quality of life.”
“As we live longer, the real challenge and opportunity is not
just adding years to your life, but adding life to your years.
That’s the future of aging well.”
—Nicole Lamm, executive director of specialty nursing
services, Marshall Medical
Working alongside Lamm is Lacey Neufeld, a doctor of nursing
practice and family nurse practitioner whose career spans
critical care and end-of-life planning. Her doctoral research
explored what patients wish they had known before undergoing
aggressive treatments, such as dialysis or prolonged ICU care.
In practice, that conversation often begins with questions.
“One of the most important things we can do is provide education
first and choices second,” Neufeld explains. “Every intervention
comes with risk. Most medications have side effects. So, we ask:
What is your goal? Do you live alone? Are you active? How often
do you engage with other people? Where are you going each week,
and how are you getting there?”
These questions reflect mounting evidence that connection can
rival cutting-edge interventions. Neufeld describes the
physiology behind it: chronic stress elevates cortisol,
increasing blood pressure, blood sugar and heart rate, all of
which contribute to long-term disease risk. Strong relationships
and a positive mindset help blunt that stress response.
“We see this across cultures,” she says. “There are different
diets and routines, but the one constant is community and
engagement.”
She also points to identity as one of the most overlooked aspects
of aging. Many people define themselves by roles like provider,
athlete, caregiver and professional that can be abruptly stripped
away by illness. When a stroke or heart attack disrupts that
role, the psychological fallout can accelerate decline.
“How can you identify yourself in a way that can’t be taken
away?” she asks. “I’m generous. I’m curious. I’m resilient. Those
are qualities you can carry into any stage of life.”
A tech-enabled approach
While clinicians like Lamm and Neufeld focus on aligning care
with individual goals and fostering connection, some innovators
are taking a data-driven approach to make healthy aging
actionable every day.
Tyler Smith, founder and CEO of Hundred Health, believes the
future of healthy aging lies in connected, personalized and
actionable data.
His interest in longevity became personal after a biological age
test revealed his body was older than his chronological years, a
concern given the impending arrival of his first child and his
father’s early heart attack.
“I thought I was healthy,” he says. “But I realized I didn’t
fully understand my own data.”
When he couldn’t find what he was looking for, he built a
platform that integrates medical records, wearable data, lab
results and evidence-based recommendations into a personalized
100-day action plan. Rather than dumps of confusing data, the app
translates complex biomarkers into simple, daily actions like
what to eat, how to move and how to track progress. Healthy
aging, he argues, is less about longevity alone than about
performance over time.
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“It’s about extending the years you can function at your best
with energy, clarity, recovery and resilience. We call it
achieving your personal GHOAT — greatest health of all time — and
that’s different for everyone.”
The platform emphasizes that while genetics sets a baseline,
habits determine the expression. Through personalized protocols,
members adjust behaviors around nutrition, sleep, stress and
exercise. As milestones are reached, new goals are introduced.
“We take cutting-edge data and translate it into daily action
that people can actually follow,” he says. Launched in December
2025, Hundred now serves more than 5,000 members.
Across science, medicine and daily life, a consistent message
emerges: Healthy aging is not a condition to treat, but a way of
life.
Lamm reflects this sentiment best: “In the end, we’re humans
taking care of other humans. It’s about the joy that comes
through connection. As we live longer, the real challenge and
opportunity is not just adding years to your life, but adding
life to your years. That’s the future of aging well.”
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