THE STANFORD CENTER on Longevity tackled a big topic at its annual Century Summit last week at Stanford University: “Ageism and the Intergenerational Future.” In collaboration with The Longevity Project, an organization founded to foster research and public conversation about our increased life spans, over 200 participants gathered in person and hundreds more online for two days of panels and discussion about the effects of ageism in society today.

Trying to stay healthy into old age is a better goal than attempting to live as long as possible. Of course, no matter how hard we try, most of us will still fall ill at some point in our lives, whether because of genes or just bad luck. And people with chronic diseases “can have extremely meaningful lives even as maybe their physical capacity declines,” said Dr. Deborah Kado, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and a director of the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Perhaps even more vital than the number of years a person lives, in sickness or in health, is their attitude and the way they spend the time they do have. “How you decide to live, whatever your time horizon, is extremely important,” Dr. Kado said. “None of us have that much control, and so it’s really how do we address the challenges as they come at us.”

New research shows aging is not a uniform process. Parts of our bodies start aging earlier than others, right down to our organs and cells. “You can take animals that are genetically identical, that are raised in the same cages with the same food and same handling, everything about them is exactly the same, but they show different molecular changes with age and different functional decline and diseases at different times,” said Tony Wyss-Coray, the director of the Phil and Penny Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience at Stanford University and senior author of the recent Stanford study of organ aging.

Start-ups are also playing an increasingly pivotal role to drive innovation towards healthier and more financially resilient lives across longer lifespans. Recognizing this trend, UpLink, the early-stage innovation ecosystem of the World Economic Forum, and the Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems have partnered with Manulife to leverage innovation to accelerate the longevity economy. UpLink ran an Innovation Challenge — the Prospering in Longevity Challenge — to source 10 early-stage startups with high-potential solutions to strengthen financial resilience over longer lifespans and adopt a preventative approach to healthcare.

The 10 winners were selected from over 130 submissions and will each receive C$50,000 in prize money from Manulife. The challenge was supported by APG Asset Management, IDB Lab, Mercer, Primetime Partners, Stanford Center on Longevity, Swiss Re and The Innovation Foundation.

As people live longer, should we rebalance work, family, and friendships? Do we need to rethink what it means to be old and the aging process? now that more people are living longer, is it time to rethink the aging process? What do we do with those extra years, how do we rebalance work, education and family life and create quality out of quantity?
There are challenges that come with getting older, most notably loss and there are opportunities for growth. There are also baked-in prejudices about old people and there’s a premium, especially in America, on looking young. Guests included psychologist Laura Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity and physician Lisa Walke, Chief of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.