Newcastle University

Ageing, Health and Society Research Group

The Ageing, Health and Society Research Group was established to provide an interdisciplinary cross-faculty collaboration between clinical scientists, behavioural and social scientists.

Theme Leader

Professor Louise Robinson (IHS) and Professor Carol Jagger (IAH)

Major Research Themes

The Ageing, Health and Society (AHS) Research Group promotes interdisciplinary, applied policy research that has an impact on the lives and wellbeing of older people, under  three core themes:

1. Cognitive impairment and dementia
2. Disability and healthy life expectancy
3. Ageing, assistive technologies and the built environment

Members of the group largely sit within the ‘Life-course, Development and Ageing’ theme in the Institute of Health and Society (IHS) but are also located in the Nutrition and Healthy Ageing Theme (Institute for Ageing and Health, IAH) and i-LAB Age in the Digital Institute.

Expertise

We are a multi- and inter-disciplinary group comprising a wide range of academics and clinicians, with the aim of conducting applied research on the health and wellbeing of older people and their carers and covering the spectrum from population down to individual experiences of ageing.

We have expertise in mixed methods research (including systematic review; development and evaluation of complex interventions, qualitative and quantitative methodologies), with disciplinary representation from health psychology, medical sociology and social gerontology, and clinical expertise from both primary and secondary care (primary care, geriatrics and old age psychiatry).

Key Collaborations

We have developed strong links with members of the public and patient advocacy groups, both locally through Voice North, Age UK and nationally via the Alzheimer’s Society and the Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network.

• Newcastle University : IAH; Institute of Cellular Medicine; Institute of Neuroscience
• National collaborators: Edinburgh, Cambridge; Hertfordshire, Keele, Kings College London, University College London, Manchester, London School Economics.
• International collaborators: INTERDEM (European Dementia Research Network), CEPAR (Australian Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research), ERASMUS MC (the Netherlands) and the National Institutes of Health (USA)

Members of the group are internationally recognised by the Gerontological Society of America, Alzheimer’s Disease International, International Psychogeriatric Association.

Developing Researchers

Postgraduate research students affiliated to the AHS group include:

PhD/MD students:
Joanna Collerton
Karen Davies
Julie Englund
Deepta Churm
Katie Frew
Andrew Kingston
Stephen Lindsey
Marie Poole
Ellen Tullo: BRC PhD studentship
Kate Grisaffi : James Wilkie Smith PhD studentship

Academic Clinical Fellows in General Practice: Lisa Newton; Eugene Tang 
NIHR GP in practice fellowship: Dan Cowie

Impact and Engagement

Community-based studies of ageing, led by Professors Bond, Jagger and Robinson, have informed governmental reviews on costs of care (http://www.dilnotcommission.dh.gov.uk/our-report/) and UK-based dementia services. The ground breaking Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRCCFAS) informed predicted prevalence rates (Alzheimer’s Society 2007), with the recognition of dementia as a key age-related, chronic illness within primary care and inclusion in Quality Outcomes Framework.

Further research revealed unacceptable delays in diagnosis influencing NICE dementia guidance and the selection of earlier diagnosis as one of three themes in England’s National Dementia Strategy (DH 2009). Subsequently studies showed that despite this national policy, patients still experienced considerable uncertainty and delays during assessment; these findings informed recent development of the Department of Health national dementia commissioning packs (DH 2011) (www.dementiauk.org).

Related Websites

• Changing Age
• Life-course Development and Ageing
• Neurodegenerative Diseases & Stroke
• Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy
• Culture Lab
• Newcastle University Business School
  

Staff List