Published on mediablends.com 14/05/2015

Summary: the main consultation on the Centre for Ageing Better strategy end on May 20. So far plans don't include anything on technology.

This evening and tomorrow people are gathering in Leeds for the People Driven Digital Health and Wellbeing conference, and as you can see here tweeting has started. Expect a storm tomorrow.

There's already been some discussion about the Centre for Ageing Better and its lack of engagement with technology - as you can see with a search on \@BerrerAgeing. Here's my ideas earlier today.

Consultation on the Centre's strategy document closes on May 20, so the #PdDigital15 event maybe provide a late opportunity to get some input about tech, at least on Twitter.

So far discussion is mainly between Shirley Ayres, Mike Clark and me, but Mike suggested that a good way to get feedback from more people would be to postßsome key messages about the Centre's plans. The Centre isn't using Twitter yet, so to help out I've copied the summary from the consultation document - see below - and extracted these points:

• Inequalities in later life across society and places are striking and shocking.
• Ageing is seen as a problem rather than a great asset for society and individuals.
• CfAB aims to helps more people have a better life by applying evidence of what works then driving change in that direction.
• The Centre's aim is that in ten years more people will know how to plan and prepare for a better later life, and will do so.
• More organisations will know what works to support individuals and society to enjoy better later lives and act on this evidence.
• We aim to have shaped the broader conversation around an ageing society so that England becomes more ready to celebrate longer later life.

The Centre suggests that change is needed across the four domain of better health, better finances, better psychosocial life, and better places. Here are suggested key topics. The Centre wants to know whether these are appropriate, and where to prioritise:

1. Healthy Living for All
2. Extending Working Lives
3. Social Connectedness
4. Sustaining Independence in the Home
5. Ready for Ageing Locally: What Works?
6. Ageism: Understanding its Perception and Impact
7. Inequality in Ageing Outcomes
8. The Contribution of Older People to a Better Later Life

I'll tweet this post to #PDdigital15 to see if there is any interest, and if so promote further tomorrow.

Full paper is here

The opportunity for a longer life is one of our society’s greatest achievements – and, currently, many older people enjoy extensive benefit from this. But the inequalities in later life are striking and shocking; many other older people live shorter lives, are unhealthy for more of their later life, are poorer than they expected, are lonely and isolated, and lack meaning in their lives. There are very diverse experiences of ageing across different parts of the country and across different social and identity groups. And the discourse around an ageing society is negative; too often, ageing is seen as a problem, rather than as a great asset for society and for individuals.

The Centre for Ageing Better (CfAB) aims to help many more people have a better later life by applying evidence of what works and by driving change in line with this evidence. We have a clear understanding from the evidence of what people want for a better later life and a clear analytic of where change is needed to make this possible across four key domains of better health, better finances, better relationships and better places.

By the end of our ten-year period, our aim is that more people will know how to plan and prepare for a better later life - and more will do so. More organisations will know what works to support individuals and society to enjoy better later lives – and more of them will act on this evidence. And we aim to have shaped the broader conversation around an ageing society so that, as a country, England becomes more ready to celebrate longer later life and to see the benefits arising from greater numbers of older people.

The Centre for Ageing Better received £50 million from the Big Lottery Fund in January 2015 in the form of an endowment to enable it to identify what works for a better later life by bridging the gap between research, evidence and practice. CfAB is currently in start-up mode with an interim CEO and a small team undertaking the preparatory work that needs to be completed if we are to make good progress in advance of the autumn, when the Centre’s Board and Permanent CEO will take decisions on the composition of its initial portfolio of activities. As part of these preparations, CfAB is keen to consult with a wide range of organisations on the Centre’s vision, proposed role and ways of working - and also on a list of eight potential topics (details of which are outlined in the appendix to this document) that might form part of our initial portfolio.