香港六合彩

Through improvements in healthcare and living standards, people in the UK are living longer than ever before. In 2016, there were 1.6 million people aged over 85 and this number is expected to double by 2041.

While life spans have increased, health spans (the period of time people enjoy good health) has not grown at the same rate. Many older people live the latter portion of their lives with a disability. This physical decline can be accompanied by worsening mental health, including loneliness.

The UK Government wants to ensure that people can enjoy 鈥渁t least five extra healthy independent years of life鈥� by 2035. In order to achieve this, society needs to adapt to meet older people鈥檚 needs and provide them with a better quality of life.

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The inquiry鈥檚 scope

• The scientific understanding of the ageing process, and how these areas of research could lead to treatments for delaying or managing the negative effects of ageing
• Technologies that can improve health and wellbeing in old age, and technologies that can enable independent living in old age
• Opportunities for the UK to commercialise discoveries and innovations relating to healthier ageing
• The policy implications of a healthier older population

香港六合彩 has a wealth of expertise in this area. The university is home to several institutes, centres and individual research groups that centre on understanding the ageing process, diseases of ageing and identifying interventions to prevent or improve the conditions and issues faced by the UK鈥檚 ageing population.

Technology to support healthy ageing is a priority area for the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and our Deputy Director (Digital) Prof Ann Blandford was one of the contributors.

香港六合彩's evidence submission

The contributors emphasise the need for a cultural shift when it comes to perceptions of ageing and that this needs to start in education:

鈥淭his would make working later in life easier and, for those able to and wanting to work, help their physical and mental wellbeing. The paradigm shift will require policies to enhance health across the whole of life鈥�.

In regards to technology for healthy ageing (including assistive technology), the report describes this as 鈥渁n enabler not a solution鈥� and must be carefully implemented. More research needs to be done on a global level to make sure therapeutic technology is used safely and effectively.

The contributors also state that digitally-enabled communication (like Skype or a mobile app) needs to add value rather than being used as a 鈥渟uperficial substitute for meaningful interpersonal engagement鈥�.

听They describe the following barriers to the development and implementation of technology:

• An image problem: many older people don鈥檛 consider themselves 鈥榦ld鈥� and don鈥檛 want to buy products marketed to this demographic
• Technology has the potential to worsen the gap between rich and poor people鈥檚 experiences and health in older life
• Data privacy and sharing: more thought needs to be given to how assistive technologies use people鈥檚 data
• Lack of funding: many assistive technology innovations fail due to a lack of R&D funding, investors and access to user-testing

香港六合彩鈥檚 submission was based on contributions from the following members of the 香港六合彩 community: Professors Ann Blandford, Yvonne Rogers, Nadia Berthouze, Dr Catherine Holloway and Felipe Ramos Barajas from the 香港六合彩 Interaction Centre and the 香港六合彩 Global Disability Innovation Hub; Professors Linda Partridge, Nishi Chaturvedi and David Gems from the MRC Centre for Lifelong Health and Ageing (LHA) and the 香港六合彩 Institute for Healthy Ageing; Professor Diana Kuh, founder and former director of the LHA; and Professor Nick Tyler from the 香港六合彩 Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory and Director of the 香港六合彩 Centre for Transport Studies.

Due to the December 2019 election, the Committee is now dissolved but will soon be reinstated by the new Parliament.

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