The contribution of geriatric health services research to successful aging.

Successful aging seems to refer to a broad set of circumstances that include but transcend healthy aging. The contribution of medical care to successful aging may lie in better management of chronic diseases. Health services research can contribute to successful aging by informing the delivery of medical care in this area. It can provide useful insights into what kinds of new approaches have proven successful and how to implement and sustain these changes. However, many of these lessons from health services research have been ignored in practice to date.