Let the adventure begin......

This week I start a new adventure, travelling for the next seven weeks to explore a topic very close to my heart. In 2024 ?I was awarded a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship, to explore the question:

Which Age Friendly Environments are promoting wellbeing in the elderly?

As the Director of AHPs for many years in the NHS and laterally as Chief Executive of a Housing & Care organisation my interest in joining the dots across Health, Care & Housing has played a significant role in the organisations I have worked and for the people I have served as a leader in United Kingdom.

Over the next few weeks, I shall be travelling to New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong, to explore this question in depth. Visiting experts in ageing, public health and housing and interacting with older people in each of these countries I aim to learn how each country is addressing the global challenge of the ageing population.

Creating age friendly cities and communities globally, to promote healthy living years whilst considering, housing,

health, assistive technologies, and social facilities is a key work stream in the recently published WHO National Programmes for age friendly cities and communities. ?In this emerging area of work visiting areas within countries that have already either transcended a population which is greater than 30% of over 65 or adopting the system wide approach to create communities and independent living will significantly enhance my understanding and learning.

What positive changes I hope to make in the UK because of learning from these countries?

The dissemination of the learning from this fellowship will be at several levels. Strategically this will enhance the design brief and knowledge of communities that are promoting independent living and wellbeing. Sharing this knowledge and working within Housing and public services who are developing ageing communities based on demand will be of value within the system. Nationally I sit on two Boards and speak at conferences and Parliamentary cross-functional meetings to promote better ageing. This information will help to feed into both the policy groups and non-executive Director roles in health, housing, and technology.

Furthermore, I plan to build on my recent successes undertaking webinars and podcasts for key publications which have a significant reach. Influencing and thought leadership are key elements of work I do in UK. Distributing this new knowledge and provoking discussion on how we can change the narrative of ageing and wellbeing in the United Kingdom will also be a valuable output for dissemination. ?

The following are high level aims I will be addressing on my travels. Signposting to the strategic policy drivers that your country has in helping to promote independent living and wellbeing in your system.

1.??????? I will be speaking to thought leaders, policy leads, academics, operational leads, providers, and service users that are working to deliver in this area.

2.??????? Engaging with people in each geographical area to ascertain what people in their 70’s think about getting older, how they plan to maintain their independence and wellbeing, who do they see as helping them with that, how do they think older people are portrayed in their country- what change would they like to see?

3.??????? I will explore with the people I meet, any insights into what they think are the enablers and barriers within their system that is helping them to successfully achieve this or holding them back?

?I look forward to sharing some of my learning on this site and writing a few blogs to document my travels, please follow and engage in this conversation. For formal enquiries or if you are interested in helping me disseminate this learning in the United Kingdom, please message me on this site.

Dr Lynne Douglas