Welcome to Inter-ActiveAge
June 2009The 2009 ActiveAge Summit: The best place to share solutions for an ageing society
The 2009 ActiveAge Summit was held on Friday 29 May 2009 in the Civic Centre, Newcastle. The event was a showcase for work being done around the world on products, programmes and solutions to sustain the quality of life for an ageing society.
Presentations included 'The Ageing Phenomenon: Commercial opportunities? from Michael Asher of Cels, 'Public Service Delivery for an Ageing Population', from Colin Williams of Newcastle City Council, 'Making Sense of the Business of Ageing', from Jane Barratt of the International Federation on Ageing, 'Ageing Well in a Connected World', from Kevin Johnson of Cisco IBSG and 'The 8 Components of an ICT Programme for Older Adults' from Gary Moulton of Microsoft Corporation.
Gregor Rae from BusinessLab also presented the 2009 Update on the ActiveAge Research Programme.
To download a copy of these the thought-provoking presentations click here.
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April 2009
The Competitive Advantage of Ageing: A possible discussion framework for public and private sector collaboration in Scotland
This paper explores an opportunity to improve the competitive advantage of Scotland by maximising the potential of our 'older people'. It is argued that by focusing on our ageing population, Scotland can improve its economy and bring GDP growth in line with UK levels or beyond.
To download this paper please click here.
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April 2009'ActiveAge' presentation at the Boots Centre for Innovation Ageing Summit
Gregor Rae, co-founder and Chairman of BusinessLab, was invited to speak at the Boots Centre for Innovation Ageing Summit on 25 March at the British Medical Association in London. Gregor's presentation focused on what BusinessLab see as the relevant trends for Boots that are impacting on products and services for an ageing society. To download this file click here.
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February 2009BusinessLab add new feature to Interactiveage : The ActiveAge Calendar
The ActiveAge Calendar is a new feature on Interactiveage. This lets you see the work that is being done by the ActiveAge team on an ongoing basis and gives you the opportunity to add news about what you are doing - with ActiveAge partners and elsewhere.
Simply send an update to Farzan and he will post your entry to the Calendar."
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February 2009Welcome to Auldville
ActiveAge coordinators, BusinessLab were invited to speak at the Institute for Public Policy Research 'Transition to Old Age : Delivering Positive Change' event at Central Square in Newcastle on 6 February.
The event was staged to contribute to ippr's research on Ageing and Wellbeing, and to consider how to develop policies to tackle some of the most difficult changes facing people in their transition to old age including retirement.
Gregor Rae, Chairman of Business Lab, was joined by ActiveAge partner Professor Tom Kirkwood, Director of the Institute for Ageing and Health at Newcastle University and James Lloyd, Head of Policy and Research at the International Longevity Centre.
The event was chaired by Carey Oppenheim, Co-Director, ippr
To download the presentation file click here
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January 2009Barriers to Technology Engagement in an Ageing Society
"The elderly must either keep up with changing technology in their homes and lives, or avoid it. Technology creates a barrier for the elderly, adding to the difficulties they must face everyday."
This report analyses how technology is perceived by the older person, in terms of its usefulness, ease of use, Internet efficacy and how the overall complexity of technology is viewed by the older user.
To download a copy click here.
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December 2008Are Older People under represented by 'the media'?
Our society is ageing fast with people over 50 making up an increasing proportion of the population. This is not however reflected by the images we are surrounded by, specifically in 'the media'. This paper presents a brief outline of this issue and asks why it is that the images we see do not reflect reality. Click here to download this paper.
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December 2008A report on the September 2008 meeting of the International Federation on Ageing in Montreal on Age Friendly Cities
The World Health Organisation (WHO) project, Age-Friendly Cities, is the basis for developing guidelines to help cities and communities become more accessible and responsive to the needs of older people. The International Federation of Ageing 9th Global Conference on Ageing hosted a workshop where representatives from existing 'age-friendly' communities shared and discussed their experiences. click here to download this report.
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December 2008New Discussion Paper: The role of Social Networks in helping to alleviate loneliness and isolation for senior citizens
Loneliness is endemic among older people whose lives are bound by their immediate environment. A recent report by Help the Aged states that more than one million people say they often or always feel lonely. This paper discusses the potential role of social networks in alleviating loneliness for older people. To download this paper click here.
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December 2008ActiveAge briefing in Newcastle on Broadband Capital's Independent Living platform
On Wednesday 19 November Dr Mark Jones, CEO of the Hull-based Broadband Capital Limited, gave an Independent Living Platform briefing to a team from Newcastle City Council.
A partner in the ActiveAge consortium, Broadband has developed STREAM Personal TV - an innovative new service that provides vulnerable older people with access to information and online services through interactive television.
STREAM Personal TV is one of four UK flagship projects for Inclusive eGovernment
In attendance were representatives from other consortium partners - BusinessLab, Microsoft Corporation, The Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences (Cels) and Newcastle City Council.Click here to download this file.
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November 2008New Discussion Paper: An Introduction to Demand Responsive Transport (DRT)
Mobility is a key theme for the ActiveAge programme. In this report we introduce and discuss DRT as a form of transport relevant to our mobility theme. The paper reviews various of the DRT schemes that exist in the UK and a few from abroad. This is the first of many ActiveAge discussion papers on mobility, so keep checking our website for updates. To download this file click here.
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October 2008New ActiveAge Discussion Paper
This discussion paper looks at Independent Living, Integrated Care and Individual Healthcare Budgets and the inter-relationships between them.Click here to download
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October 2008New Corporate Partners for ActiveAge
BusinessLab are delighted to announce the arrival of two new major corporations in the ActiveAge consortium.
Microsoft Corporation Inc, the world's leading software company, has joined ActiveAge as a Strategic Research Partner. The organisation has already begun its investigation into the innovative application of ICT within an ageing population through the highly successful deployment of its Senior PC solution in Miami, Florida and Argentina. Microsoft is now particularly interested in collaborating with the growing cluster of age-related expertise in Newcastle and the northeast to explore how this experience can be widened. By joining us on this venture, Microsoft hopes to expand and share its knowledge of the impact of ageing on its markets and assess the potential for existing and new technologies to harness the opportunities this phenomenon presents.
BT Group PLC, a leading provider of communications solutions around the world, joined ActiveAge as a Policy Partner with a particular interest in the social and digital inclusion aspects of an ageing population. Supported by experts at their research centre at Adastral Park, BT have already conducted extensive research into assistive technologies and carried out successful trials in the homes of older people. This brings valuable information to the ActiveAge consortium. BT are also interested in the human interaction aspects of assistive technologies in the home and hope to apply the resources of their corporate volunteering programme to ActiveAge demonstrator projects.
The arrival of Microsoft and BT into the ActiveAge consortium along with the knowledge, resources and know-how they bring, represents a major milestone for the programme and for BusinessLab.
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September 2008International Day of Older Persons
October: International Day of Older Persons
Older people - a new power for development
A demographic revolution is underway throughout the world. Today, world-wide, there are around 600 million persons aged 60 years and over; this total will double by 2025 and will reach virtually two billion by 2050 - the vast majority of them in the developing world.
In our fast ageing world, older people will increasingly play a critical role - through volunteer work, transmitting experience and knowledge, helping their families with caring responsibilities and increasing their participation in the paid labour force.
Already now, older persons make major contributions to society. For instance, throughout Africa and elsewhere - millions of adult AIDS patients are cared for at home by their parents.
It is not only in developing countries that older persons' role in development is critical. In Spain for example, caring for dependent and sick individuals (of all ages) is mostly done by older people (particularly older women); the average number of minutes per day spent in providing such care increases exponentially with the carers' age: 201 minutes if the carer is in the age group 65-74 and 318 minutes if aged 75-84 - compared to only 50 minutes if the carer is in the age group 30-49 (Duran H, Fundacion BBVA, 2002).
Such contributions to development can only be ensured if older persons enjoy adequate levels of health, for which appropriate policies need to be in place. In line with the Madrid International Plan of Action, the World Health Organization launched in 2002 a document "Active Ageing - A Policy Framework", outlining its approaches and perspectives for healthy ageing throughout the life course.
http://www.who.int/ageing/events/idop_rationale/en/index.html
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September 2008Shaping Tomorrow Today: International Federation on Ageing 9th Global Conference on Ageing
ActiveAge attended this 1000 delegate conference that brought together policy makers and practitioners from across the world to share and discuss some of the major ageing themes.
ActiveAge will over the next period publish a series of papers on some of the key conference themes:
- Future communities
- Age-Friendly Cities and Communities
- Product and Service Design
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September 2008ACTIVEAGE TO BE REPRESENTED AT THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION ON AGEING'S 9TH GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON AGEING
BusinessLab on behalf of the ActiveAge programme have been invited to participate in the Age-Friendly City Leaders meeting to be held during the upcoming IFA's 9th Global Conference on Ageing.
Some 50 delegates from cities around the globe will hold a one-day meeting to exchange information and solidify the foundations of this growing global movement. This meeting follows successful exchanges in Istanbul, London and Germany toward a five-year global vision.
Over a two year period in 2006-2007, some 35 cities and communities have worked together to create a better understanding of elements that make up an Age-Friendly City. This initiative stems from the Policy Framework on Active Ageing (2002) by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the commitment of many governments and NGOs. As a result, governments have come together as partners to make their environments safer and more user friendly for seniors, with a view to promoting a healthy, active lifestyle.
The accelerated aging of the population in the coming years will have a direct impact on the organisation of living environments. Cities and communities in every region of the world will be directly affected by this trend. And, several of them have already begun to adapt their services and infrastructure to better ensure the health, safety and quality of life of seniors.
Attendees from cities and communities such as Geneva, London, Montréal, Rio de Janeiro, Oregon (USA), Istanbul and Melbourne, among others, will be in attendance.
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July 2008The NHS is a Boomer
Born along with the boomer generation, the NHS is now having to work even harder to accommodate and care for its fellow boomers as they slip into the elderly bracket.
When the NHS was born the life expectancy in Britain was 66 for men and 71 for women. Today, and in large measure due to the success of the NHS, that life expectancy is now 76.6 for men and 81 for women (ONS).
But, people living longer means more people needing the services of the NHS, thereby changing the way and focus the NHS delivers its services.
And the NHS has to do this with greater strains on its budgets. The more elderly the population the smaller the tax base gets; so either today's younger generations are prepared to pay taxes to support the elderly's health and care services, or new financial models are required to ensure quality of life for the boomers.
So how has the NHS kept pace with the changing needs and demands of its boomer siblings? And what should the future look like?
Recent publications and articles offer some perspectives.
The NHS - Beginning, Middle and End?: The Autobiography of Dr John Marks
Radcliffe Publishing Ltd (20 May 2008)
The NHS After 60: For Patients or Profits?/ John Lister
Middlesex University Press (30 April 2008)
At 60, Britain's health service needs reality check http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL02682879
Susan Banks was one of the first NHS patients http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7449916.stm
Sixty years of the National Health Service http://www.ohe.org/lib/liDownload/603/Sixty%20years
The shock of the old: The National Health Service has lasted long enough to look modern again http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11670271
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June 2008Inter-ActiveAge Forum Launch
ActiveAge is currently engaged in research into the role for online networks in helping to improve the health and wellbeing of those suffering from Long Term Conditions. To help broaden the knowledge and understanding, InteractiveAge invites comments on a short introductory paper. Click on the Forum link to participate in the discussion.
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May 2008Towards 2030: planning for our changing population
The New South Wales Government have taken an active step towards a strategy for an ageing population. This detailed plan may hold some key ideas for others currently grappling with ageing issues. Access the document at http://www.dadhc.nsw.gov.au/dadhc/towards2030.htm
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April 2008grey matters
Remember to visit the 'grey matter' page for some slightly 'off-centre' views of the ageing phenomena
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April 2008ActiveAge's Partner Meeting
ActiveAge Partners will meet in Newcastle on 20th May to discuss and develop the Health and Social Network theme. For a copy of the discussion paper please contact ileith@businesslab.co.uk
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April 2008New Case Study
Microsoft Research Cambridge and Addenbrooke's Hospital are developing a prototype wearable camera that could aid people with Alzheimer's disease. Read the SenseCam Case study here.
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April 2008ActiveAge Publication
ActiveAge Strategic Partner, Cels, has recently published a research report "Independence Through Assistive Technologies".
The Work by Dr.Pamela Briggs, Dr.Lynn McInnes and Dr.Nicola Hopley of Northumbria University's PaCT Lab considers the everyday life difficulties of many older people and how these might be eased through the use of assistive devices and technologies.
To obtain a copy of the report, please contact:
Caroline.findlay@celsatlife.com
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April 2008Welcome to Inter-ActiveAge
Welcome to Inter-ActiveAge, the news and discussion site for ActiveAge. Here you will find relevant information and stories from the ActiveAge programme as well as new ideas about ageing-related products and issues in general. We hope you will contribute to our discussions and offer information about your own areas of interest in the ageing arena. Our forums are currently under construction but these will soon be populated with lots of interesting conversations and debates about ageing-related issues. We hope you enjoy spending time on this site and continue to check back for regular updates.
"ActiveAge is BusinessLab's largest and most important collaborative research programme. We are very excited about the re-launch of Inter-ActiveAge and hope that this site will provide you with up-to-date information on ActiveAge as well as encouraging further discussions on ageing for everyone interested in the subject"
Gregor Rae, Chairman of BusinessLab
"CELS aim as a strategic partner within ActiveAge is to expand the connectivity between the strong North East cluster of public and private organisations and international companies. The region is home to a vibrant community of academic centres, led by the Institute of Ageing and Health at Newcastle University, combined with forward thinking service providers and committed representatives of the informed elderly. Working with ActiveAge CELS has already developed links to major technology providers into the region which we believe will accelerate economic growth and further position the North East as a centre of excellence in delivering solutions for active ageing".
Mike Nicholds, Director of Science and Technology,Cels
