Front and back cover of the Policy Report
I would like to thank all the participants for the time, energy and enthusiasm they brought to this vivid debate, and the dedication with which everyone worked towards formulating the Themes for Action summarised in this Report. The Policy Lab indicated that we need policy changes to help normalise ageing as a lifelong process to create more positive attitudes to ageing. Shifts in attitude will drive changes in healthcare practice and encourage wider educational and economic actions to improve lifelong ageing for all.
Having articulated these pathways towards achieving attitudinal change to ageing, the challenge now is to involve the full range of stakeholders to improve lifelong ageing for all. As laid out in the Next Steps section of the Report, in the SAACY research programme, we have already begun using the findings from this Policy Lab to direct our research and actions. The one-day conference Lifelong Ageing (see one of our earlier blog posts on this), for example, brought together up-and-coming researchers from across the UK to showcase their work to an audience of charity and third sector professionals, sharing their understanding of ageing as a lifelong process and getting feedback from people working on the ground. Our half-day workshop, Co-producing Ageing Research, invited older people and representatives from local and national charities to discuss gaps in ageing research and policy making.
We very much hope that the Report itself will act as a resource and inspiration for all those working towards shifting how we view the ageing process. You can access the Report here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/shifting-how-we-view-the-ageing-process.pdf. Please share it as you think appropriate.