Healthy Aging
Our research
The Healthy Aging research group conducts interdisciplinary research on healthy and active ageing across the life course. Our work focuses on physical, mental, and cognitive functioning, resilience, lifestyle factors, social resources, frailty, and multimorbidity.
The overall aim is to promote wellbeing and functional ability in later life as well as across different living environments.
The group draws on several data sources. Population-based register and survey data, including the large health record data source, FINeFI, are used to study healthy aging and multimorbidity, as well as social and functional inequalities in ageing. A key goal is to enable the early identification of the most vulnerable individuals or groups and to inform more targeted interventions to maintain health, functioning, cognition and independence throughout the aging process.
A central component of the group’s research on active aging is the BoAktiv Study, which focuses on how engagement in active aging is shaped by individual, organizational, and contextual factors within senior housing environments. BoAktiv includes survey data for over 600 participants collected between 2018 and 2024 in Folkhälsan’s senior housing in Swedish-speaking areas of Finland, covering information on health, functioning, social resources, and active aging. In addition, approximately 60 in-depth interviews with Swedish- and Finnish-speaking senior housing residents explore quality of life and perceptions of healthy and active aging within the senior housing context.
The Healthy Aging group collaborates closely with other research groups at Folkhälsan, as well as with national and international universities.
Tietosuojailmoitus osallistujalle
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Group Leader
Senior Scientist
Markus Haapanen
Postdoctoral Researchers
Päivi Herranen
Marko Niemelä
Anna Tirkkonen
Doctoral Researchers
Cognitive performance in late midlife as a predictor of frailty from late midlife into old age: a longitudinal birth cohort study.
Tirkkonen A, Haapanen MJ, Pajulammi H, Niku J, Jylhävä J, Mikkola TM, Eriksson JG, von Bonsdorff MB. Gerontology. 2025.
Identifying health conditions in older adults in textual health records using deep learning-based natural language processing.
Lin J, Kuukka A, Korpi T, Tirkkonen A, Kariluoto A, Kaijansinkko J, Satamo M, Pajulammi H, Haapanen MJ, Häyrynen S, Pursiainen E, Ciovica D, von Bonsdorff MB, Jylhävä J. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. 2025.
Associations between social vulnerability and functioning in older age, and the moderating role of optimism and self-efficacy.
Lahti AM, Mikkola TM, Tirkkonen A, Eriksson JG, von Bonsdorff MB. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. 2025.
Sense of community and social participation underlying active aging among senior housing residents.
Siltanen S, Rantakokko M, Lahti AM, Levonmaa H, von Bonsdorff MB. Journal of Applied Gerontology. 2025.
Life events and the experience of quality of life among residents of senior housing in Finland.
Sirén AL, Seppänen M, von Bonsdorff MB. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life. 2024.
Early growth, stress, and socioeconomic factors as predictors of the rate of multimorbidity accumulation across the life course: a longitudinal birth cohort study.
Haapanen MJ, Vetrano DL, Mikkola TM, Calderon-Larranaga A, Dekhtyar S, Kajantie E, Eriksson JG, von Bonsdorff MB. Lancet Healthy Longevity. 2023.
Association between resilience and frailty in older age: Findings from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study.
Stenroth SM, Pynnönen K, Haapanen MJ, Vuoskoski P, Mikkola TM, Eriksson JG, von Bonsdorff MB. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 2023.
Early life factors as predictors of age-associated deficit accumulation across 17 years from midlife to old age.
Haapanen MJ, Jylhävä J, Kortelainen L, Mikkola TM, Salonen M, Wasenius N, Kajantie E, Eriksson JG, von Bonsdorff MB. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. 2022.
Folkhälsans seniorboende och aktivt åldrande – BoAktiv-studien.
Lahti AM, Simonsen N, Seppänen M, Finne M, Sarvimäki A, von Bonsdorff MB. Gerontologia. 2019.
Association of childhood adversities and home atmosphere with functioning in old age: the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study.
von Bonsdorff MB, Kokko K, Salonen M, von Bonsdorff ME, Poranen-Clark T, Alastalo H, Kajantie E, Osmond C, Eriksson JG. Age and Ageing. 2019.
Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC)
Karolinska Institutet
Lund University
Tampere University
University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital
University of Jyväskylä
University of Turku
Åbo Akademi
Samfundet Folkhälsan
University of Jyväskylä
Jan Magnus Janssons fond
Medicinska Understödsföreningen Liv och Hälsa ("Life and Health Medical Fund")
Juho Vainio Foundation
Society of Swedish Literature in Finland
Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation
Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation
Orion Research Foundation
Kort om studien på svenska
Gruppen fokuserar på tvärvetenskaplig forskning om aktivt och hälsosamt åldrande
