Washington, DC, 29 May 2026 (PAHO) - In the context of Older Persons Month, celebrated in May in the country, Puerto Rico reaffirms its commitment to healthy aging through the implementation of its Ten-Year Healthy Aging Plan, with particular emphasis on strengthening long-term care and technical support from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
During the 8th Annual Healthy Aging Conference, organized by the Department of Health with support from PAHO, representatives from government, academia, and civil society gathered to exchange progress and strengthen the response to population aging.
Puerto Rico is among the territories with the highest proportion of older adults in the Region of the Americas: nearly 30% of its population is aged 60 years or older, compared to 13.8% in Latin America and the Caribbean. This reality poses significant challenges for health and social protection systems and drives the development of policies aimed at ensuring autonomy, access to comprehensive services, and a better quality of life for older persons.
In this context, the conference addressed long-term care, including home-based, community, and institutional services, and highlighted the need to advance toward integrated, person-centered care, in line with the PAHO Policy on Long-Term Care , as well as to strengthen actions to prevent dependency.
Likewise, the country has prioritized support for informal caregivers, who play a fundamental role in providing care. Recent data show that approximately 1 in 10 people in Puerto Rico are informal caregivers, of whom 54.7% are women and nearly one quarter are older adults, underscoring the importance of expanding their training and support within care systems.
As part of the conference, Patricia Morsch, PAHO Regional Advisor on Healthy Aging, noted that “Strengthening long-term care systems centered on older persons is essential to respond to rapid population aging, integrating health services, community support, and assistance for those who provide care.”
PAHO reaffirms its commitment to continue providing technical support to Puerto Rico to strengthen community programs, build capacity, and consolidate sustainable responses to aging within the framework of the Decade of Healthy Aging 2021–2030.
