Enhancing our understanding of later life

Contributions to the BSG’s Ageing Issues blog have attracted a lot of attention in recent weeks (https://ageingissues.wordpress.com/). In addition to the Society’s well-read statement on COVID-19, blogs have been posted by Chris Phillipson (Covid-19 and the crisis in residential and nursing home care), Ann Leahy (Time to Confront the Portrait in the Attic? Reflections on Theories and Discourses of Ageing sparked by the COVID-19 crisis), and the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (Covid-19: Bringing the Social Back In). Other contributions are always welcome. Please send your blogs to: info@britgerontology.org.

A new project funded by the Dementia Australia Research Foundation explores perspectives of people living with dementia, care partners, care home workers, advocates and lawyers on realising human rights of people living with dementia in care homes. The project makes recommendations to engage human rights to end the confinement and segregation of people living with dementia in care homes, ultimately proposing deinstitutionalisation of the aged care system.

The Healthy Ageing Social, Behavioural and Design Research Programme (SBDRP) is part of the ISCF Healthy Ageing Challenge portfolio of activities. The SBDRP will provide £9.5m (100% fEC) to fund interdisciplinary academic-led teams to carry out research into social, behavioural and design aspects of healthy ageing.

The UK Civil Society Women’s Alliance, coordinated by the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations, is seeking to extend its connections with experts across the UK in order to increase the depth and range of our work. I have been asked to convene the virtual expert group on older women. The Alliance has a strong working relationship, established since 2011, with the Government Equalities Office (GEO) who also share our information and perspectives with their colleagues in all Government departments. As the GEO is now in the Cabinet Office, this gives us a conduit to influence Government across issues, which is unique in the Women’s Movement. Building on the expertise of our members as well as increasing the range and depth of the Alliance, it was felt that having expert focus groups would help us to achieve these ends. We do not seek to be in competition with any other networks within the Women’s Movement – but rather work collaboratively with them.

The Campaign for Social Science has created a new hub to showcase leading examples of research, think-pieces and policy analysis across the full spectrum of the social sciences.