Lynne Corner, Director of Engagement, Newcastle Initiative on  Changing Age

Lynne CornerIncreasing life expectancy counts as one of mankind's greatest achievements, and harnessing the knowledge, experience and wisdom of older people is now one of society's major opportunities.

VOICE North

One of the ways Newcastle University is meeting that challenge is doing this is through VOICE North – Valuing Our Intellectual Capital and Experience – and in the process it has created a unique resource.

So far more than 1,500 older people have been recruited into VOICE North. Over the past 18 months groups of them have supported around 80 research projects. They are also a formidable force in offering ideas, advice and guidance on a great many issues affecting the elderly.

Dr Lynne Corner is Director of Engagement at the Newcastle Initiative on  Changing Age, the University’s initiative on the societal challenge of ageing, which is looking into all aspects of health, well-being, finance, work, social organisation and culture affecting older people.

She co-ordinates VOICE North and says: “It comes from our passion that older members of the public are fundamentally important partners in our research.

“We want to see our research into all aspects of ageing much more embedded in everyday life. There is a great energy and commitment to ensure we use our multi-disciplinary research excellence to make a real difference to people’s lives.”

SIDE (Social Inclusion in the Digital Economy)

One of the research projects in which VOICE North members are involved is SIDE (Social Inclusion in the Digital Economy). This involves the development of assistive technologies such as those created for the Ambient Kitchen, to enable people with age related conditions to live independently in their own homes.

VOICE North is run from the Newcastle Initiative on Changing Age office in the Biomedical Research Building on the Campus for Ageing and Vitality in Newcastle.

“As a result of the fact we are all living longer we need a radical reassessment of the place of older people in society, which is long overdue,” said Dr Corner. “So Changing Age is a campaign which argues for this profound change in attitudes to ageing. And critically for us that it is informed by facts and not misconceptions.

“There is nothing else that I know of in Europe or globally where there is such diversity of activity focused around such an important societal challenge, which is ageing and demographic change.”
Dr Corner is a social gerontologist who studies ageing across the life course. This involves looking into ways of measuring well-being as well as examining the effectiveness of products and services intended for older people. Her research into dementia specialises in technologies for an ageing population.

“The main drive for my research is that it is grounded in public engagement – in the views of the public – and that we translate research into practice.”

She chairs the North East Dementia Alliance, a partnership of key organisations and individuals from across the region who have an interest in how people with dementia can be helped to enjoy a better quality of life.

VOICE North evolved out of Years Ahead, an initiative Dr Corner helped start in 2005 with Professor Jim Edwardson, the founder of the Institute for Ageing and Health at the University. Major charities, local authorities, health services, other organisations and professionals are involved.

Years Ahead was launched in response to the fact that older people “were largely invisible” in terms of public policy. “That’s changed now and we have ageing and demographic change recognised in policy, and that’s very important,” she said.

Newcastle University has been at the international forefront of radical rethinking about ageing. The Changing Age Charter was developed in response to the need for new ways of thinking about ageing – a much-needed reassessment of the place of older people in society.

“It’s all about how we value the contribution and the capability of older people, and understand their needs and aspirations,” added Dr Corner. “This is fundamental to all our work in Newcastle, no matter what discipline people are working in.”

Contact Lynne Corner about her research.

Find out more about:

Read more about why grey matters.