Mobility Workgroup

Mission

The mission of the CDC-HAN Mobility Workgroup is to review and evaluate research, practices, and policies that optimize mobility for healthy aging. This work will be guided by the social ecological model and the HAN definition of healthy aging. The group will also serve as a resource for HAN, CDC, and the broader research, practice, and policy communities.

A working definition of mobility

Mobility is fundamental to everyday life and central to an understanding of health and well-being in older populations. Mobility refers to movement in all of its forms, including transferring from a bed to a chair, walking for leisure and the completion of daily tasks, engaging in other activities associated with work and play, exercising, driving a car, and using other forms of passenger transport.

Impaired mobility is associated with a variety of adverse outcomes. Examples include reduced access to goods and services, limited contact with friends and relatives as well as specific health conditions, such as depression, ardiovascular disease, cancer, and injuries secondary to falls and automobile crashes.