Established in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is dedicated to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy life. Through our original research, policy and program initiatives we provide the evidence base to address the structural and cultural barriers to good health and drive progress toward health equity. This work and our one-of-a-kind public programming are supported by our world class historical medical library and our Fellows program, a unique network of more than 2,000 experts elected by their peers from across the professions affecting health.

The New York Academy of Medicine

History

The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) began to focus on healthy aging in 2006 when the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Global Age-friendly Cities project in recognition of the converging trends of urbanization and population aging. The initiative asked 35 cities to lead discussions with their older residents to explore the strengths and challenges of aging in cities. The information gathered through this research, with the help of NYAM, was used to develop a framework for global age-friendly cities.

In 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and NYAM launched Age-friendly New York City. The partnership's first undertaking was a comprehensive assessment of the city’s inclusivity of older people, using the WHO’s 8 Domains of an Age-friendly City as a framework. New York City was a founding member of WHO Global Age-friendly Network, which now includes 1,000 cities and communities in 41 countries, including 445 communities in the U.S. Many of these have been directly or indirectly influenced by NYC. In 2013, the International Federation on Ageing awarded Age-friendly NYC the “Best Existing Age-friendly Initiative in the World.”

With various public and private partners, NYAM has since worked to create age-inclusive environments throughout New York City, New York State, and worldwide where older people can thrive. This work serves as the foundation upon which the Center for Healthy Aging was built.