Healthy Aging Pathways: Behavioral Interventions, Intrinsic Capacity, and Environmental Determinants

Population aging is one of the defining demographic trends of the 21st century, creating urgent challenges and opportunities for psychology, public health and social systems. While biomedical advances extend lifespan, there remain substantial gaps in ensuring quality of life, functional independence, and mental well-being in older adults. The World Health Organization emphasizes intrinsic capacity—the composite of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial abilities—as a key framework for promoting healthy aging.

However, maintaining and enhancing intrinsic capacity requires more than medical care: it involves behavioral interventions (e.g., physical activity, cognitive training, diet, digital health engagement), psychological resilience, and supportive environments that enable autonomy and participation. Current research often investigates these domains separately, overlooking the complex interplay between behavior, psychological resources, and environmental determinants.

Evidence shows that interventions to strengthen health reserve (physical and cognitive resilience) can delay functional decline, while factors such as neighborhood design, green space, and social cohesion substantially influence trajectories of aging. At the same time, cultural values, socioeconomic resources, and digital access contribute to inequalities in late-life health outcomes. There is a pressing need for integrative research to clarify how behavioral, psychological, and environmental levers can be mobilized to foster healthy, active, and equitable aging worldwide.

This Research Topic aims to bring together multidisciplinary perspectives to examine how behavioral strategies, intrinsic capacity, and environmental contexts interact to shape aging outcomes. It seeks to provide evidence-based insights for interventions that can enhance resilience, reduce disparities, and support sustainable healthy aging in diverse populations.

Themes (including but not limited to):

• Behavioral interventions to maintain or improve intrinsic capacity (exercise, nutrition, sleep, cognitive training, digital health tools).
• Psychological mechanisms of resilience, motivation, and self-regulation in older adults.
• Health reserve and its role in delaying decline and promoting long-term well-being.
• Environmental determinants (neighborhood design, accessibility, social participation, green/blue space, digital inclusion) and their effects on aging and mental health.
• Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approaches to aging research.
• Equity-focused strategies addressing socioeconomic and cultural disparities in aging.
• Methodological innovations for assessing intrinsic capacity, behavior, and environment over time.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review

Keywords: healthy aging; intrinsic capacity; health reserve; behavioral intervention; resilience; environmental determinants; aging psychology; social determinants; equity; digital health

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.