CDC's Prevention Research Centers Healthy Aging Research Network (CDC-HAN)

About the CDC's Healthy Aging Research Network    

Since 2001, CDC's Healthy Aging Research Network (CDC-HAN) has used a coordinated approach to develop, test, and share the best strategies for keeping older adults healthy. This innovative network promotes an ongoing agenda of community-based research to support and promote healthy aging projects while working with national and local partners. A part of CDC's Prevention Research Centers program, the HAN comprises nine member universities from throughout the U.S.

HAN's uniqueness is that it is able to dovetail the diverse perspectives and resources of network members, many of whom are luminaries in the fields of public health and aging. Participating universities are able to enhance the focus on older adult health within their own institutions and foster collaboration with national, state, and local partners to expand and extend the HAN's capacity to address community needs. The HAN works closely with CDC's Healthy Aging Program to help ensure promising research findings translate to healthier, higher-quality lives for older Americans.  

More specifically, HAN undertakes activities to:

• Implement interventions that promote good health in older adults
• Provide community decision-makers with useful information and resources
• Develop practical and effective tools for assessing and evaluating programs and policies
• Summarize and disseminate findings to colleagues across multiple sectors and communities
• Mentor and train public-health practitioners
• Inform research priorities
• Provide access to experts in healthy aging

CDC-HAN's mission

The mission of the CDC Healthy Aging Research Network (CDC-HAN) is to better understand the determinants of healthy aging in diverse populations and settings;  to identify, develop and evaluate programs and policies that promote healthy aging; and  to translate and disseminate research into effective and sustainable public health programs and policies throughout the nation.   

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CDC-HAN's work is based on the social-ecological model

Sources: McLeroy et al., 1988, Health Educ Q; Sallis et al., 1998, Am J Prev Med (modified).  

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