1. What works for a better later life
October 2nd 2017
Dr. Aideen Young, Evidence Officer

2. We work for a society where everybody enjoys a good later life
About us
An independent charitable foundation
We are funded by an endowment from the Big Lottery Fund
We are part of the network of What Works organisations that promote the better use of evidence
We work for a society where everybody enjoys a good later life 2
Presentation Title: Lorem Ipsum

3. Our Strategy Our work programmes EVERYONE ENJOYS A GOOD LATER LIFE
PREPARED FOR LATER LIFE
ACTIVE AND CONNECTED
IN CONTROL
LIVING IN AN AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITY
MANAGING MAJOR LIFE CHANGES
PLANNING AND PREPARED-NESS
PHYS. ACTIVITY
FUL-FILLING WORK
CONT-RIBUTING TO COMMUN-ITIES
HOMES AND NEIGHBOURHOODS
GM, AGE-FRIENDLY CITIES, WHOLE LOCAL SYSTEM APPROACHES
BEST EVIDENCE, STRONG INFLUENCE AND VOICE, INNOVATIVE APROACH
GREAT ORGANISATION

4. Our work on housing

7. What is the Centre for Ageing Better doing?
Evidence review: We have commissioned the University of the West of England, Bristol and the Building Research Establishment to conduct a review of the evidence into how home adaptations can contribute to a good later life.
Primary research: We are commissioning primary research to gather evidence from practitioners who carry out assessments for home adaptations as well as people who have adapted their homes.
Call for practice: We will put out a call for practice to better understand the processes through which people receive funding for home adaptations, particularly through the Disabled Facilities Grant.

8. Our work on community contributions
Community Contributions in Later Life
Adapted from: Nesta ̶ people helping people: the future for public services 5

9. The benefits of community contributions
The benefits for health include:
Increase in walking activity
Smaller reductions in walking speed
Increased overall activity level
Increased strength
Fewer depressive symptoms
Fewer functional limitations
Slower decline in self-rated health
Improved executive function
Improved memory
Increased brain activity
Community Contributions in Later Life 9

10. Who are the people who contribute?
Proportion of people making frequent contributions by age,
From: Cabinet Office. Community Life Survey
Community Contributions in Later Life 10
From: Community Life Survey 2015

11. Who are the people who contribute?
Health, socioeconomic status and ethnicity are much more strongly correlated to volunteering than age.
Proportion of people aged 50+ involved in formal volunteering by health status,
Proportion of people aged 50+ involved in formal volunteering by wealth,
Community Contributions in Later Life 11
Nazroo, J. and Matthews, K. (2012) The impact of volunteering on well-being in later life,
London: WRVS

12. Practical triggers for volunteering
Age group (years)
50-59
60-64
65+
Reason for getting involved in volunteering
Someone asked me directly to get involved 52 45
My friends or family got involved with me 33 24 26
Someone who was already involved was there to help me get started 34 36 28
The information about the things I could do was available 22
I can do it from home 17 15 14
I knew it would help me improve my skills or get qualifications 10 3 5
Someone provided transport when I needed it 9
I knew it would benefit me in my career or job prospects 7 1
I knew I could get my expenses paid 6 4
Thing that would get me involved in volunteeringⱡ
All ages
If my friends or family got involved with me 18
If someone asked me directly to get involved
If someone who was already involved was there to help me get started
If I could do it from home 8
If someone could provide transport when I needed it
If more information about the things I could do was available
If I knew it would help me improve my skills or get qualifications
If I knew I could get my expenses paid
If I knew it would benefit me in my career or job prospects
Humphrey et al. (2011) Aspirations for later life, London.
 Base: those not interested in future volunteering. Respondents could choose more than one factor
Community Contributions in Later Life 12

13. Reasons for not volunteering, Helping Out
 Reason given in Helping Out survey
Age (years)
55–64
65+
Not enough spare time 87 42
Put off by bureaucracy 57
Don’t know how to find out about getting involved 29 26
Don’t have the right skills/experience 34 35
Wouldn’t be able to stop once involved 41 31
Worried I might end up out of pocket 18 17
Illness or disability 27 62
Feel I am too old 19 69
Base: all respondents who were not formal volunteers in the last year but would like to start to help. Don’t know/refusal responses excluded.
Community Contributions in Later Life
Low et al. (2007) Helping Out: A national survey of volunteering and charitable giving, 13

14. Next steps
There is a lack of evidence on less formal activities and on participation by specific disadvantaged groups
Hence, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the dynamics of voluntary participation and unpaid contributions at a neighbourhood / community level
We are commissioning community based, qualitative research to gain a deeper understanding of the patterns of formal and informal voluntary activity and community engagement by people in later life.

15. Our work on physical activity
Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for physical activity for older adults
Already high capacity and funding in promoting 75/150 mins a week of activity
Unknowns on real impact of sedentary behaviour
Strength and balance also reduces sedentary behaviour and enables moderate and vigorous activity as well as helping independent living (ability to carry out activities of daily living) and reducing falls.

16. 8% 1 in 5 One quarter Loss in muscle mass and strength
From the age of 40, adults lose 8% of their muscle mass per decade. This increases to 15% once over 70.
1 in 5
More than 1 in 5 (21%) of all adults over the age of 85 suffer from sarcopenia.
One quarter
In the last two years more than a quarter (26%) of adults over the age of 60 and nearly four in ten (38%) adults over the age of 80 reported a fall.*
*Source: Data from Wave 7 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, provided by Dr Nina Rogers, Institute of Epidemiology and Health, University College London.

17. The impact of falls on the NHS and the individual
1.5 million
Hip fracture patients take up 1.5 million bed days each year
£1 billion
Hip fractures cost our health services over £1 billion per year.
24%
Once someone has fractured a bone, only 24% of people return to their previous level of movement and independence

18. Effectiveness of strength and balance training
Strength and balance training can:
Improve body balance and muscle structure in older people
Reduce the risk of falls by up to 55%
Be beneficial both in terms of preventing and treating frailty
Significantly improve knee joint pain among older adults
Have positive effects on risk factors for cardiovascular disorders, cancer, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis

19. What’s the big change we want to see?
Increased number of people remaining in work for longer
Reduction in falls-related hospital admissions
Increased number of people living independently
Reduction in hip fractures
Reduction in health & social care costs
Increase in number of people doing ADLs / maintain functional abilities to do things they value
Reduction in falls
We want more people aged 40 and over to do strength and balance activities. 19

20. Supporting retention and returns
Support back in to work
Retention to work longer
+1m
900,000 people aged have informal caring responsibilities

21. Inequalities in work and retirement
Those working: ‘What is the main reason you are not yet retired?’
Those retired: ‘What are the main reasons why you retired when you did?’
Later Life in 2015 survey of those aged 50+ (Centre for Ageing Better, Ipsos MORI 2015)

22. Our work on working lives
What do retired people miss about work?
Later Life in 2015 survey of those aged 50+ (Centre for Ageing Better, Ipsos MORI 2015)

23. Job-related training opportunities

25. What is Ageing Better doing?
We are partners with Business in the Community Age at Work campaign, working with employers to draw together and share the evidence about age-friendly workplaces
We have commissioned a team led by the University of Westminster to carry out employer-focused research to better understand how we can make workplaces more age-friendly. 
We are partners with Greater Manchester (GM) Combined Authority on a pilot programme to develop and test new approaches to address worklessness and job insecurity among people aged 50+ in GM.
We are working with GM Combined Authority to investigate the issues faced by people with long-term health conditions in the workplace so as to help design interventions to prevent them from falling out of work.

26. Dr. Aideen Young Aideen.young@ageing-better.org.uk @AideenYoung
Centre for Ageing Better
Angel Building, Level 3
407 St John Street, London, EC1V 4AD
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