Editorial articles
In this section you will find the editorial articles that are part of the latest policylink bulletin.
Editorial articles
The articles available are listed below:
- COGWORKS International Research Conference, Queens University of Belfast 25 February 2010
- CARDI increases support for research on ageing issues
In February 2010, COGWORKS, an international network of researchers funded under the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Programme managed by the Medical Research Council, hosted a conference on the theme of ‘Cognitive health and wellbeing across the lifespan’. Bringing together around 135 participants and following opening remarks from Professor James McElnay, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research and Postgraduates at Queen’s University of Belfast, Dame Joan Harbison, the Chair of COGWORKS and the Older People’s Advocate for Northern Ireland, welcomed people to the conference and set the event within the context of the wider NI political agenda and stressed the importance of COGWORKS as a vehicle for multi-disciplinary research and inter-sectoral collaboration.
Dr Karim Hadjri, COGWORKS principal investigator, provided an overview on the work of the research network which involves five leading UK universities: Brunel, Queen’s, Stirling, Ulster and Warwick. Dr Hadjri emphasised that the network was focused on cognitive health and well being across the lifespan, and not just in old age. He explained their four research themes which focus on:
- Lifelong health and wellbeing which aims to define cognitive health, focusing on what influences it, and how it should be maximised
- The impact of caring and disability on cognitive and mental health -focusing on the role of carers as well as the real impact of impairment and disability;
- The influence of the built environment on cognitive decline and wellbeing:
- The provision of appropriate technologies for middle aged and older adults.
Subsequent papers dealt with these themes in further detail. Issues covered included: financial abuse of older person’s property and assets and the implications for law and practice; behavioural problems associated with dementia care settings; an overview on how architectural design can help to support the well-being of people with dementia by addressing issues such as the misinterpretation of space and the need to design space to enable people to get around. This latter point reflects the observation made during the conference that for many older persons, 90% of their time can be spent indoors.
A representative from the Intel Corporation provided a thought provoking insight into the contribution technology can make to the lives of older persons. This countered often wrongly held assumptions on how older persons use technology. The idea that ‘older people are not comfortable with technology’ is deeply problematic and contrary to the evidence he presented. Looking to the future he stressed the need to move away from an image of dependence and disability to more of a positive framework of identity, experience and meaning. Technology and communication can combine together to offer ‘…a vision of engagement, interaction, enjoyment and confidence as opposed to a world of anxiety, security, worry and instability’. The implication here is that we need to consider the way we talk about middle aged and older persons – ‘instead of designing for them, we need to design for us’…. We also need to address new ways of approaching older persons. Ageing is about experience and identity rather than simply need and disability. The final part of the conference allowed for roundtable discussion and feedback.
Bringing together such a wide spectrum of research interests will make a valuable contribution to the dissemination of information on the challenges arising from the changing demographic trends. This should form the basis for continued dialogue between researchers and the policy community. For the purposes of this abstract, it is possible to identify a number of potential implications for policy as follows:
- Researchers need to recognise the need for the involvement of people who can use the research findings and who can benefit from the research right from the start. This echoes a point stressed by Professor Bernie Hannigan who explained that applying for research funding is not the first step - rather it is essential to understand what a funding initiative was designed to do. This would mean ensuring all necessary collaborations were already in place well in advance.
- The potential for enhanced policy learning between different regions - reflecting a point raised by John Kennedy Director of Care Services (Joseph Rowntree Foundation). The over-65 population is increasing across the UK, though the NI population is younger than elsewhere. The years of unhealthy life expectancy are shortest in Scotland while levels of disability are slightly higher in NI and Wales.
- There will be a continuing need for improved evaluation capacity across the devolved territories to enable policy makers to understand the impact of policies.
All the issues raised at the conference will now be considered by the COGWORKS team as part of their research plans and subsequent applications for funding.
Video recordings of the conference papers, copies of the PowerPoint presentations and further details on the work of COGWORKS can be obtained from the COGWORKS website or from the COGWORKS Network contact:
Dr Karim Hadjri
School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering
Queen's University Belfast
email: k.hadjri@qub.ac.uk.
School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering
Queen's University Belfast
email: k.hadjri@qub.ac.uk.
The Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) has opened Call 3 of its grants programme. In Call 3 the centre is inviting bids for large scale research projects which focus on priority issues relating to ageing and older people. The grants have increased, with a maximum award of €100,000 now available to successful applicants (compared to a maximum of €25,000 in the previous call). This abstract summarises the key objectives of CARDI, provides a review of CARDI’s research programme to date and highlights a number of distinguishing features of CARDI’s third call for research proposals which should be of interest to the wider policy community.
Key Objectives
CARDI is a not for profit organisation involving age focused researchers, academics, statutory, voluntary and community sector representatives with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Department of Health and Children in Dublin and the Health & Social Care Research & Development Office, Northern Ireland. CARDI was established to provide a mechanism for greater collaboration among age researchers, for wider dissemination of ageing research information and to advance a research agenda relevant to the needs of older people in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It has been strategically positioned around four areas: (i) identifying and establishing ageing research priorities relevant to policy and practice (ii) promoting greater collaboration and co-operation on ageing research (iii) stimulating research in priority areas to inform policy and practice relating to ageing and older people and (iv) communicating strategic research issues on ageing to raise the profile of ageing research.
CARDI’s research grants programme
CARDI has successfully launched two previous grants programmes and has to date funded 14 cross-border interdisciplinary projects designed to improve policies and services for older people. These cover issues such as rural transport, dementia, elder abuse, fuel poverty and the impact of the recession on pensioners. This represents a diverse research programme as illustrated in the table below which lists each project and principal project leader.
Table 1: CARDI Research programme: Funded Projects as at March 2010
Project title |
Project leader |
|---|---|
| Using aerobic exercise to promote brain plasticity and functional capacity in older people | QUB |
| Healthy ageing in rural communities a cross- border research network | National University of Ireland Galway |
| The development of care standards for people with end stage dementia | Trinity College Dublin |
| Rural Transport for older people in the north and south: understanding and meeting their needs | University College Dublin |
| Universally designed built environments at the urban scale (network) | Trinity College Dublin |
| Ageing in persons with an intellectual disability: building the foundation for an all-island longitudinal study | University of Ulster |
| Assessing tele-care for carers of older people: a research network | Caring for Carers |
| Older people’s views of support and services in response to elder abuse in communities across Ireland | Age Action Ireland |
| An evaluation of inappropriate prescribing in long stay elderly facilities in Greater Cork and Northern Ireland | University College Cork |
| Fuel poverty and health | Dublin Institute of Technology |
| Inequalities in old age | QUB |
| Leading dance for older people- a community health network | University of Limerick |
| Encouraging behaviour change in mild cognitive impairment patients: development of educational materials. | QUB |
| Is age a determining factor in the treatment of men with prostate cancer? | Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, QUB |
Besides the diversity of projects discernible from their titles, the projects reflect an interdisciplinary approach to research. This involves a range of disciplines coming together using the perspective each discipline can bring to the area of research or topic in question. In one case experts have been pooled from nine different disciplines. In another project the research draws on interdisciplinary expertise in areas such as economics, spatial planning, rural geography, social care and public health.
These research projects could in general be considered as falling into one or two categories. One category involves a direct link of high relevance to the work of policy officials. Examples include those concerning rural transport, elder abuse, the design of the built environment. The other category contains projects which will impact directly on people’s lives and well being. In this latter category one can point to projects focusing on the impact of tele-care on carers of older people; the use of aerobic exercises to promote brain functionality and the research on inappropriate prescribing in long stay elderly facilities. By definition these studies might be expected to have immediate practical application depending on the findings and conclusions.
All of the research projects involve some form of collaborative activity involving a network of researchers. In most cases this involves another aspect of collaboration, namely project members being drawn from a range of different sectors involving universities, public, private and third sector bodies.
Further details of CARDI’s research programme are available from the CARDI website.
CARDI Grants Programme Call 3
Besides increasing the amount of grant assistance for research on ageing issues, CARDI’s third call for research proposals has other distinguishing features. These include (i) the introduction of pre-submission support to assist applicants in respect of the selection criteria; (ii) the restriction of grants for research only; (iii) the exclusion of data mining proposals, given that CARDI is planning a separate initiative for the analysis of existing data sets; (iv) the need for applicants to give specific evidence that their proposal meets a priority need in ageing research. Unlike previous calls, CARDI has not listed specific target areas; rather applicants are now required to provide persuasive evidence that their proposal meets identified needs now or in the future for our ageing population.
The full terms of reference, invitation to submit a proposal and relevant forms are available on the CARDI website. Applicants were asked to submit a two-page summary to CARDI by noon on Wednesday 7 April 2010. The deadline for full submissions is noon Monday 24 May 2010.
