As a researcher who studies ageing, I spend a great deal of time thinking about, discussing, and researching prevention. As a father to a one-year-old and a three-year-old, and as the son of parents in their seventies, one of whom lives with dementia while the other is his primary caregiver, I spend a great deal of time navigating it in the real-world as well. What is striking is that accessing preventative supports can be remarkably difficult at both ends of the life course.
For young families, there are programmes, services, tax credits, childcare resources, healthcare appointments, developmental assessments, and community supports. For older adults, there are healthcare services, social care programmes, community organisations, financial supports, transportation resources, and countless other forms of assistance. In both cases, the challenge is often not whether support exists. The challenge is finding it, understanding it, and successfully accessing it.
When we talk about preventative medicine, we often think about physical health and/or the absence of disease. We often think about vaccinations, screening programmes, physical activity, healthy diets, and medications. Although these interventions are important, many of the factors that shape health and wellbeing exist outside of the confines of traditional definitions of health.
Health is influenced by far more than just what is observable by a GP in a doctor’s office. Income, housing, social relationships, financial security, community participation, and access to services all shape trajectories of mental and physical health across the life course. These social determinants of health become increasingly important as populations age.
The reality of ageing is often one of increasing complexity. Health conditions become more common. Systems become more difficult to navigate. Social networks often shrink. Mobility can change. Financial circumstances can become more uncertain. At exactly the moment support becomes most important, accessing it can become more challenging.
Dementia, for example, creates notable challenges for the individual, but also for those around them. Caregivers frequently find themselves navigating a maze of services, appointments, paperwork, and decisions while simultaneously trying to support the wellbeing of someone they love. The burden is not simply clinical. It is administrative, emotional, social, and financial. This is something I’m observed from a research perspective, but also first-hand watching my family rally around my father who lives with dementia.
From a prevention perspective, this matters because many of the adverse outcomes we associate with ageing do not emerge in isolation. Falls, social isolation, declining mobility, poor mental health, caregiver burnout, and loss of independence are often influenced by a constellation of factors. Addressing these challenges early can improve quality of life while reducing demand on healthcare and social care systems downstream.
When we look at it from this perspective, helping people access the support they are already entitled to begins to look a lot like preventative medicine. The challenge, of course, is scale. Modern support systems are often fragmented and difficult to navigate. Even highly educated and resourceful individuals can struggle to understand what services exist, what they qualify for, and how to access them. For many older adults, these barriers can be even greater.
This is where technology may have an important role to play, but it can cut both ways. Much of the conversation surrounding artificial intelligence focuses on diagnostics, clinical decision-making, and the future of healthcare delivery. While these applications are exciting, some of the most immediate opportunities may lie in helping people navigate complexity. The ability to identify relevant supports, simplify decision-making, and connect individuals to resources has the potential to improve lives long before someone arrives at a hospital or clinic.
However, technologies designed for older adults must remain cognisant of the realities of ageing. Digital solutions that assume high levels of technological literacy, perfect vision, or unlimited cognitive capacity risk creating new barriers rather than removing existing ones. Technology alone is rarely enough.
The most promising approaches may be those that combine technological innovation with meaningful human support. UK-based, Kinly provides an interesting example of this emerging model. Using a technology-enabled, human-centred approach, Kinly combines artificial intelligence with personalised support to help individuals identify and access resources and services that may otherwise remain out of reach. Rather than replacing human interaction, technology is used to enhance it, helping people navigate increasingly complex systems while maintaining dignity, autonomy, and choice.
The potential implications extend far beyond financial wellbeing alone. Accessing appropriate support can improve independence, reduce stress, strengthen social participation, and enable people to remain safely in their homes and communities for longer. In some cases, it may help prevent or delay the very outcomes that place the greatest strain on individuals, families, healthcare systems, and social care services.
As populations continue to age, prevention will require us to think more broadly about what keeps people healthy. Healthcare will always be central to that discussion, but so are the systems, services, and supports that allow people to maintain independence and quality of life as they age. As a father of two young children, much of my caregiving is focused on helping them become more independent. As the son of ageing parents, one living with dementia and the other serving as his primary caregiver, the challenge is often helping them maintain their independence for as long as possible. While these experiences sit at opposite ends of the life course, they share a common goal: ensuring that people have the support they need to thrive while retaining autonomy over their own lives.
If we can make support easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to access, we may discover that one of the most effective forms of preventative medicine was never “medicine” at all.
About the Author
Theodore D Cosco joined the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing in 2016 as a Research Fellow. Dr. Cosco is a Chartered Psychologist (British Psychological Society) trained in applied social research methods (MSc 2011, Trinity College Dublin) and epidemiology (PhD 2015, University of Cambridge), and Assistant Professor of Mental Health and Aging in the Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University. His research interests include resilience, mental health, and the interface between technology and healthy ageing.
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