Introduction
Unveiling the changing face of ageing
As people live longer and lead healthier lives the meaning of old age, and the needs of older people, requires fresh understanding and new insights.
Background
As the largest and most ambitious research programme on aging ever mounted in the UK, this seven year programme is hoping to reinvigorate the considerable research community in this area. The development work that took place during that initiative has been channelled into the remit of this £20 million programme which is being funded through a unique collaboration of five Research Councils including the AHRC.
It is envisaged that the programme will appeal to those involved in the activities of the AHRC's 'Stages of Life' initiative which generated significant capacity and enthusiasm in the research community.
The Programme
The programme's aim is to help older people enjoy a better quality of life as they age by developing practical guidance for policy and its implementation. The research challenge is two-fold: to harness knowledge from a wide range of disciplines to reveal the relationship between ageing individuals and their changing technolgoical, cultural, social and physical environments. And secondly, to develop methods and means which will overcome current constraints on older people's quality of life. The five objectives are:
- to explore how ageing is subject to different influences over a lifetime, including identifying the biological determinants of healthy ageing and the social and environmental factors contributing to ageing well;
- to understand how meaning, understanding and experience of ageing are currently changing and becoming more diverse;
- to investigate how ageing is/has been understood and represented at different times and different cultures;
- to encourage and support the development of innovative multidisciplinary research groups and methods;
- to provide a sound evidence base for policy and practice including the development of prototype systems, procedures and devices so that research contributes to well-being and quality of life.
There are no current funding calls for this programme. For more information please see the NDA website.
Programme Director
This programme was administered by ESRC.
Find out more
This programme was administered by the ESRC. Full details about the programme, including contact details are on the ESRC website.
About AHRC Initiatives
This programme is one of the AHRC programmes which opens up opportunities for research that has intellectual and wider cultural, social or economic urgency and that the Council considers is best supported by concentrated investments. It will also assist researchers working on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary areas which do not fit into conventional funding opportunities.