Healthy Ageing Research

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Healthy Ageing Research Developments and
Lessons

• By
• Hal Kendig
• Faculty of Health Sciences
• University of Sydney
• National Symposium on Ageing Research
• The Australian Research Agenda Priorities and
  Challenges?
• Canberra
• 24 September, 2003

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Overview

• 1. What is Ageing Research?
• 2. Healthy Ageing Policy Contexts
• 3. The Healthy Ageing Research Review
• 4. National Research Priorities
• 5. The PMSEIC Report
• 6. Issues and Directions

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1. What is Ageing Research?

• Individual and Population Ageing are Fundamental
• Older People Focused Their Views Represented
• Interconnectedness of Issues in Old Age
• Life Course, Generations, and Social Change
• Environmental as well as Individual Dimensions
• - NOT just what happens ON older people
• Ageing Research Features
• Connections to End Point Users of Knowledge
• Bio-psycho-social Approaches
• Multi-disciplinary Collaboration

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Why Research?

• Ideas, information purposeful change
• Balancing a biased base of knowledge
• What do older people want?
• What can be improved?
• What works to improve things?
• Are we going forward?
• Who misses out?

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2. Policy Context

• National Strategy for an Ageing Australia
• An Older Australia, Challenges and Opportunities
  for all
• The Hon Kevin Andrews, MP, Minister for
  Ageing, 2002
• Healthy Ageing involves
• Disease protection and optimal well-being
• Mentally, physically, and socially active
• Maximise capacities to participate contribute
• Government, business, communities individuals
• Research will underpin the National Strategy for
  an Ageing Australia and fine tune its
  implementation. We need
• to understand and reassess what is happening as
  the population ages. A good evidence base will
  support the policy
• and administrative decisions that will need to be
  made by a broad range of individuals and
  organisations. pxi

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Healthy Ageing Programs

• National Healthy Ageing Strategy
• (Commonwealth, States, and Territories, 2000)
• Community attitudes to ageing and older people
• Health and wellbeing for older Australians
• Employment and community activities
• Financial other support realistic and fair
• Appropriate living environments communities
• Appropriate and affordable care and support

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3. A review of healthy ageing research in
Australia

• By
• Hal Kendig, Faculty of Health Sciences,
  University of Sydney
• Gary Andrews, Centre for Ageing Studies, Flinders
  University
• Colette Browning, School of Public Health, La
  Trobe University
• Susan Quine, Dept. of Public Health and Community
  Medicine, University of Sydney
• Amanda Parsons, Health and Ageing Research
  Program, University of Sydney
• This report was prepared for the Community
  Services Ministers Advisory Council, 2000
• Distributed by the Office for an Ageing
  Australia, Commonwealth Department of Health and
  Ageing, Canberra

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2. The Healthy Ageing Review

• Commonwealth Office for Older Australians (for
  Community Services Ministers Advisory Council)
• Identify policy information needs for healthy
  ageing
• Review available research
• Consider present and future players
• researchers
• policy makers
• NGOS
• Recommend funding and other strategies for
  research application and dissemination
• Timing March to June 2000 project
• Publication 2002 August

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Methods

• Ongoing Commonwealth and Team briefings
• Telephone interviews policy, program,
• advocacy groups
• State consultations with key actors
• Web questionnaire for researchers
• Ageing research directories
• Project workshops

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Information Needs Users Views

• Government Policy and Program Managers
• Service Providers
• Advocacy Groups
• Older Populations and Carers
• Private Sector
• Wider Community

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Barriers to Use of Research Users

• Imposition of political imperatives
• Lack of timeliness
• Academic publications unavailable
• Researchers misunderstand policy processes
• Policymakers do not understand research
• Inadequate analyses
• Poor presentations

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Research Providers and their Views

• Traditional Individual Approach
• Research Networks
• State Centres
• Research Institutes

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Barriers in policy applications Researchers

• - Insufficient research funding
• - Lack of trained researchers
• - Poor collaborative networks
• - Insufficient priority by funders
• - Lack of government commitment to planning
• - Limited application of research findings
• - Lack of recognition of the value of research

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Key Recommendations

• Ageing Priority in the Australian Research
  Council
• and National Health and Medical Research
  Council
• A National Institute and Dedicated Research
• Funding Program
• A Network of State Centres
• Longitudinal Studies
• Commonwealth-State Action?

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4. National Research Priorities

• Prime Ministers December 2002 Announcement
• Purpose/Criteria
• Vision for research focusing on key challenges
  for Australia.
• Build on our strengths while seeking new
  opportunities in emerging areas.
• Strengthen collaboration between research bodies
  and with industry, and
• Build critical mass of excellence in those key
  research areas.
• Four Priority Areas
• Environmental Sustainability
• Promoting Health
• Frontier Technologies for Industries, and
• Safeguarding Australia

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National Research Priority Promoting and
Maintaining Good Health

• Promoting good health and preventing disease,
  particularly among young and older Australians
• Priority Goals
• 1. A healthy start to life
• 2. Ageing well, ageing productively
• Developing new and better social and medical
  strategies to reduce mental and physical
  degeneration based on greater knowledge and
  understanding of the causes of disease and
  degeneration of mind and body.
• 3. Preventive healthcare

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5. PMSEIC Promoting Healthy Ageing in Australia

• Prime Ministers Science, Engineering, and
  Innovations Council (July 2003)
• Vision An additional 10 years of healthy and
  productive life expectancy by 2050.
• Enhancing Research to Promote Healthy Ageing
• - A National Network for Healthy Ageing Research
• - Longitudinal Studies of Healthy and Productive
  
  Ageing

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6. Issues Directions

• Priority for useful knowledge
• Balance of fundamental, priority-driven, and
• development and evaluation (who decides?)
• Involve end point users in forming and doing
• research as well as using it
• Dissemination and application are essential
• Quality of research/ers and Ongoingness
• Optimism (but when?)

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Conclusions Big Questions

• Can researchers demonstrate value and
• usefulness?
• Can politicians and program managers think
• longer term?
• Can Australians recognise the value of applied
• research for informed societal action?