In the first two instalments of my digest, part of an upcoming update to my Change Rangers website Resource section, I featured some of the academic institutions in Canada and the USA that conduct research and publish content on ageing and longevity. Now in part three I have selected some universities and colleges from other parts of the world from Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Singapore and the UK.
If you are exploring career opportunities in the field or just want to research what’s up, then this Resource Digest series will help you get started. In part four, coming in March 2023, I will cover some professional associations, think tanks, research centres and other non-governmental organizations apart from those that I regularly follow and showcase in my weekly blog posts.
A multidisciplinary team under the Faculty of Medicine, does work that helps as they say “translate knowledge into effective practice and policy for service agencies, consumer groups, government and older people.” One priority area of research that caught my eye is the Impact of Environmental Stressors on Ageing, which looks at how such things such as extreme weather and natural disasters impact cognitive impairment, less mobility and social isolation with older adults.
Formed in 2018, this is one of twelve in Finland that is studying the transformation of ageing and care under three research themes – Diversification of care work, Agency & self-determination of older peopleand Care needs & inequalities. This last theme area is led by Professor Teppo Kröge, whose 2022 excellent book I am currently reading, titled Care Poverty: When Older People’s Needs Remain Unmet.
Of five research areas, two stand out – Ageing & Longevity, looking at how this influences society, the economy, labour market, and public policies. For example one area of their work focuses on Forecasting future socio-economic inequalities in longevity in Europe. With Families & Generations, among several research areas it studies –“why, when, and by whom families are formed and broken up (and)…in relationships between family members…how behaviour is transferred from parents to their children.” Website features examples of projects and a list of publications.
Recognizing Singapore as one of the world’s fastest ageing countries, the ARISE institute was set up to act as a coordinating body to engage and integrate the efforts of the research institutes, centres, colleges and schools across the whole university. Four areas of research – Ageing Medicine, Social Integration & Education, Ageing in Place and Care & Lifestyle Enhancement. Under each category there are examples of projects, each with very interesting particular topics; such as Functional Food Based Gut Microbiome Engineering: An Approach Toward Healthy Lifespan Extension and Uberising health coaching for older adults.
With a long history back to the 1960’s, the Ageing & Health focus for the university has grown to become an impressive enterprise which now hosts the UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageingas I’ve come to appreciate over the last year or two by attending a few of their virtual events. In 2016, Newcastle University was the first to become a partner of the International Longevity Centre in the UK and if you navigate their website you will see the full extent of their collaborations. One significant offshoot collaboration is the Future Homes Alliance, focused ondeveloping new housing solutions for an ageing society.
