Behavioral Aspects of Healthy Longevity

Addressing the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases to achieve healthy longevity for an aging population has become central to global health policy goals. New policy tools are needed for effectively and efficiently tackling health and lifestyle behaviors and habits linked to the development of noncommunicable disease risk factors. Behavioral science offers insights into psychological barriers, mental models, biases, and other factors that influence decision making and habit formation. Applying these insights can support current policy efforts toward healthy longevity. This paper develops a framework to clarify the relationships between noncommunicable disease formation, detection, and management and behavioral determinants at the individual, community, and health system levels. Following the framework, the paper documents frequently identified behavioral barriers at the three key stages of patients’ noncommunicable disease trajectories. It identifies policy lessons from the behavioral science literature to address such barriers and, together with other policies, reduce the incidence of noncommunicable diseases and improve treatment effectiveness.