Century-long lives are here. We’re not ready.
In the United States, 100-year lives will be common for those born today, yet our institutions, economic policies, and social norms have not kept pace. Through research, education/training, and outreach, Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL) helps shape social and political choices to support lives that are longer, healthier, and more rewarding. We envision a future in which people at all income levels and all walks of life make the most of the advantages afforded by increased lifespan—resulting in lives infused at every stage with a sense of belonging, purpose, and worth.
OUR WORK
The dominant media narrative focuses on the challenges posed by longer life spans, employing phrases like “silver tsunami” and “age wave,” as if longer lives were irrefutably and irredeemably problematic.
SCL advances a research-driven agenda that showcases the opportunities created by increased longevity, identifying actionable, evidence-based steps for enhancing the quality of longer our lives from birth until death. We demonstrate the economic value of early- and mid-life interventions—underscoring the immense benefits of acting early and investing strategically. We also address longstanding race- and class- based disparities in healthcare, education, housing, and other social goods that hinder opportunities for all Americans to experience longer, healthier lives.
CENTURY LIVES SEASON 3:
PLACE MATTERS
In Season 3 of Century Lives, we hit the road, traveling from West Texas to the Bronx, visiting poor and working-class communities that beat the odds when it comes to healthy aging and life expectancy. In some ways, the communities have little in common – they are urban and rural; Black, White, and Latino – but they share attributes that have produced longer life and better health. Join us to learn the stories and secrets of these communities and what it means for making the gift of longer life more equitable and more widely available.
MAKING AN IMPACT
THE NEW MAP OF LIFE IMPACT FELLOWS PROGRAM
In 2019, a cohort of fellows was appointed for a two-year term and charged with producing critical reports about nine domains that require major change to optimize long lives. In this phase, a new cohort of fellows is charged with building on the first phase by identifying and evaluating specific ways to improve century-long lives. For example, Apoorva Rangan and her mentor, SCL co-director Deborah Kado, a professor of medicine specializing in geriatrics, are working together to redesign medical school curricula to include more geriatric training. Currently, medical students receive almost none.
LONGEVITY DESIGN CHALLENGE
Now in its 10th year, the Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge is an annual global competition that provides promising designers with a path to drive change in the world.
CENTURY SUMMIT
In this annual convening, we ask smart, creative and innovative people tough questions surrounding the quest for healthier, happier, and more productive life spans.
LONGEVITY TRANSITIONS SALONS
The Longevity Transitions Salon series features leaders from a wide range of fields who created new career paths and continue their contributions to society.
CHANGING THE NARRATIVE
SCL continues to a be a leader in the public discussion on the issues of longevity. We are the ‘go-to’ for journalists working at major outlets across the country—and around the globe. Below are just a few of the articles in which SCL experts and reports were recently quoted and/or cited.
CENTURY LIVES PODCAST
Do rules created when most people lived only to 50 or 60 still make sense when more and more people live to be 100? Longer lives are, at once, among the most remarkable achievements in all of human history and the greatest challenges of the 21st century. How can we ensure that our lives are not just longer, but healthy and rewarding as well?
Century Lives seeks answers to theses questions by weaving together expert insights with the experiences of real people across the country, putting a human face on aging in all its complexity.
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