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Co-producing Ageing Research Blog

Co-producing Ageing Research was a half-day workshop we ran at Science Gallery London in May this year (2023). We invited older people and representatives from local and national third-sector organisations as well as local organizations and community groups to discuss gaps in ageing research and policy efforts.

The event was driven by the ethos of Laura Hughes’s qualitative study that is part of the SAACY research programme. This project investigates older adults’ perspectives, experiences and anticipations of ageing (follow this link to our study protocol) with a view to understanding what ageing well means, depending, for example, on cultural and geographic context. It involves a Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP), which consists of a small group of older adults who provide insights and advice based on their lived experience to ensure, as Laura has put it in her blog on the study, that the research is ‘effective, useful, and impactful’.

Co-producing Ageing Research, funded by the Faculty’s Small Grants Scheme, wanted to carry patient and public involvement further, in keeping with the ‘Next Steps’ identified in the first SAACY Policy Report, encouraging conversations between stakeholders invested in achieving attitudinal change to ageing.

The half-day workshop had two parts. In the first hour, Laura presented the findings of her qualitative work – to gather feedback, but also to continue the conversation with those who had taken part in her semi-structured interviews. The remaining time was spent in small-group discussion exploring themes like challenges of ageing, understudied areas of ageing and work that would improve the lives of older adults. Camille Aubry’s live illustration captures the engaged mood in the room and the range of topics covered.

Building on the insights of our first Policy Lab, SAACY will continue to encourage engagement across sectors, including work with and for older people. Stay up to date on these pages, as we are currently in the process of organising further events.

Lifelong ageing

The live illustration of the discussions at Co-producing Ageing Research – by Camille Aubry

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Martina Zimmermann

Reader in Health Humanities and Health Sciences

SAACY Blog

The Sciences of Ageing and the Culture of Youth (SAACY) is a project funded by a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship. It looks at how we talk and think about ageing and how…

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