ageism of designers, retailers and the youth-obsessed market, what we are really demonstrating is the importance of inclusive or universal design (Coleman, 1994) throughout the life course, or what has been called ‘transgenerational design’ (Pirkl, 1994). In recognising this we can see that this body of work from the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) Programme builds on the seminal research carried out for the i-design consortium funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (2002–07) that brought together researchers in engineering and
difficult to achieve even a basic degree of fusion across disciplines, beyond, that is, the obviously cognate ones. This was not due to lack of commitment or effort. Nor can this account of ageing be described as definitive. (Perhaps only an encyclopaedia could be so described.) Its contents were determined by the NDA Programme and, despite its wide brief, it was not able to cover every base in a highly complex field. There are many pieces of the ageing jigsaw missing that others will have to investigate. Mental capacity is a huge one and unequal ageing another
307 SIXTEEN Conclusion Alan Walker As with Volume 1 this Conclusion is devoted mainly to a summary of the key findings from the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) projects represented by the chapters herein. It also provides an opportunity to review the contribution made by the NDA programme to ageing research, which follows the key findings. The first book in this NDA series, The new science of ageing, contained thematic syntheses of all of the research conducted by the programme, written by multidisciplinary teams of NDA researchers. Thus the three volumes
347 SEVENTEEN Conclusion Alan Walker The 15 substantive chapters in this volume represent roughly half of the projects in the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) programme, while its twin volume contains the other half (Walker, 2018: forthcoming). Both were preceded by a pathbreaking collection that engaged all of the programme’s projects in multi-disciplinary analyses of six themes that are central to any informed discussion of the future of ageing (Walker, 2014). That seminal collection was tagged as the ‘new science of ageing’ because the NDA programme
81 FIVE Measuring the quality of later life Ann Bowling Introduction This chapter provides an overview of research funded by the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) programme on quality of life (QoL) in older age (Bowling, 2009; Bowling and Stenner, 2011; Bowling et al, 2013). The research built on previously funded research from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Growing Older programme (Bowling et al, 2003; Bowling and Gabriel, 2004; Gabriel and Bowling, 2004; Bowling, 2005). A focus on QoL in older age was justified by increasing numbers of older
was intentional because the NDA Programme was the UK’s first major research initiative in the ageing field to attempt to embrace all of the relevant disciplines. The primary intention of this chapter is to outline the objectives and contents of the Programme, as an essential backcloth to the subsequent chapters. This chapter also identifies significant changes taking place in the field of gerontological science. It is not claimed that these stem directly from the NDA Programme but, rather, that the Programme was both a reflection of the shifting scientific
1 ONE Introduction Alan Walker This book is the first of two volumes of work arising from the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) programme. The necessity for two volumes arises from the sheer scale and scope of the programme: 10 years, £22 million, 200-plus researchers, funding from five UK research councils covering the arts and humanities, biological sciences, engineering, the social sciences and medical research. In short, the NDA was the largest single multidisciplinary research programme ever mounted in the UK and probably the largest in Europe. The
as an overview of the implications for social care of demographic changes to 2020. This book comprises four major themes: autonomy and independence in later life, biological perspectives, nutrition in old age, and representations of old age. This section list for the two books emphasises the extraordinary multidisciplinary collaboration that the NDA programme achieved. It is, to say the least, highly unusual to embrace such a wide range of disciplines – from biology to the visual arts – within one programme of research. These two volumes were preceded by a
This unique book represents the first multi-disciplinary examination of ageing, covering everything from basic cell biology, to social participation in later life, to the representations of old age in the arts and literature.
A comprehensive introductory text about the latest scientific evidence on ageing, the book draws on the pioneering New Dynamics of Ageing Programme, the UK’s largest research programme in ageing. This programme brought together leading academics from across the arts and humanities, social and biological sciences and fields of engineering and medical research, to study how ageing is changing and the ways in which this process can be made more beneficial to both individuals and society.
Comprising individual, local, national and global perspectives, this book will appeal to everyone with an interest in one of the greatest challenges facing the world – our own ageing.
is clear is that no matter how iconoclastic the representation or diverse the venues or channels for its display, images by themselves are unlikely to transform attitudes and practices towards ageing in the same way that the infirmities of old age cannot necessarily be resisted solely through body work. Because of this, the RSRA project has attempted to build on the strength and extent of responses to its findings and outputs and, in a number of cases in collaboration with the NDA programme, to push for more tangible policy change. This is where the
