Ageing Well Public Talks series

We know many people are living longer lives, and the disparity between those who age well with fewer years of ill health and those whose ageing happens while living with multiple conditions or preventable illnesses is increasing. This leads to an inequality gap in ageing well. Evidence-based research offers suggestions that might assist people with ageing well, but that research is often inaccessible to those who need it most. The academic language and inaccessibility of evidence-based research on ageing well increase some of those barriers and may prevent people from accessing valid and reliable information.

Other barriers include digital exclusion, lack of education, and/or understanding of and/or interest in why we should learn about ageing. Sometimes, our living conditions and arrangements may prevent us from learning about ageing well too. This often reflects social inequalities, such as how different people may be affected by cost-of-living challenges and/or caring responsibilities (O’Connor et al.,  2023). All or any of the above barriers may prevent people from accessing the health care they need, which in turn may adversely affect their health-related outcomes.

The Ageing Well team at The Open University (led by Dr. Jitka Vseteckova) has pioneered a novel educational intervention (in 2019), which uses collaborative and participatory approaches while addressing the above gap. The initiative aims to support diverse ageing populations (national/global) to adopt lifestyle changes that promote healthier ageing.

Structured around the Five Pillars for Ageing Well  (Nutrition, Hydration, Physical activity, Social and Cognitive stimulation), this approach uses an evidence-based educational model which translates current research from the field of ageing into ‘bite-sized’ learning, easily manageable by its target audiences. Learning that is co-produced with people with lived experience of ageing at various stages, people living with long-term conditions, academics, clinicians, practitioners, and other professionals who support ageing populations in their professional roles.

The AWPT Series is unique in its use of Participatory Public Engagement as the main vehicle for co-design, co-production, delivery, and evaluating impact. The AWPT Series translates the available scientific evidence, bringing it to the public in an easily understandable form, and invites members of the public to share their own experiences with each other, as well as health professionals and academic or non-academic partners. This then empowers and enables participants to make lifestyle choices that support them living longer and healthier lives.

The vision

The vision of the AWPT Series and the related portfolio of work is to:

• Create bridges between communities to allow for a mutual flow of information/knowledge exchange.
• Engage diverse communities in discussions about their health and wellbeing and thus empower the communities to self-manage and become partners in their own healthcare.
• Co-facilitate a step change in user behaviour and support existing health and social care services provision.
• Connects sustainable, already, existing work, support programmes offered by various organisations and networks that already exist in the UK (England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland) and internationally (China, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Greece).

The AWPT Series is contributing to the government’s (local and central) the NHS agendas for prevention of ageing decline and hospital admissions through self-management. The AWPT Series work closely with wide and diverse communities in several areas of the country via a continuously widening network of partners.

Over the past five years, an ongoing series of public talks structured around the Five Pillars have been facilitated and co-delivered by the AWPTS team in the UK and worldwide. The AWPTS, along with a portfolio of going with free resources (podcasts, short films, short, accessible articles, short online OpenLearn courses, and other resources), have been accessed by over 90,000 people across the globe. While doing this, the AWPTS team has built a network consisting of stakeholders, commissioners in health and social care, voluntary organisations across the UK, and members of the public.