Growing Older, Better

Our new report Growing Older, Better highlights physiology’s role in meeting the UK Government’s healthy ageing mission

Download the full report here

What is the challenge of healthy ageing?

A girl born in the UK today has a 1 in 3 chance of living to 100, and the chance of living to 100 will double in the next 50 years. While life expectancy has reduced slightly in the UK recently, over the last few decades it has increased significantly.

Healthy life expectancy, which is the number of years lived in good health, has also increased, but not at the same rate as life expectancy. This means people are living more years in poor health.

Our ageing population, with greater proportion of life spent in poor health, will increase costs for the NHS and means we need to change how we approach work, finances, health and care, and housing.

We must therefore ensure that greater focus is given to keeping people healthier, for longer.

How is the UK Government tackling the challenge of an ageing society?

The UK Government launched its Industrial Strategy Building a Britain fit for the future in November 2017 and at its heart are four ‘Grand Challenges’, developed in consultation with the Government Office for Science, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Council for Science and Technology and the national academies. The four ‘Grand Challenges’ included ‘harness the power of innovation to help meet the needs of an ageing society’ and central to this is the Government target of ‘ensur[ing] that people can enjoy at least five extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035, while narrowing the gap between the experience of the richest and poorest.’ It is with this target in mind that The Physiological Society has reached out to experts to get their views on the likelihood of this target being met under current circumstances and, if not, what must change in order to see the exponential growth required in average healthy life expectancy within the next decade.

What is the role of physiology in the UK Government’s healthy ageing agenda?

Growing Older, Better highlights the integral role of physiology in achieving the UK Government’s target of ‘at least five extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035, while narrowing the gap between the experience of the richest and poorest’ as outlined as part of the Industrial Strategy’s ‘Grand Challenges’. In order to achieve this ambitious and timely objective, The Physiological Society, in collaboration with experts from across the health and research sectors, have identified key areas and action points to ensure an environment in which the significance of physiology to lifelong health is recognised and physiology can flourish to the benefit of individuals and communities.

Growing Older, Better represents an overview of the current environment for physiology and highlights the opportunities that The Society can harness over the coming years to ensure that the Government is in a position to meet its healthy ageing target.

The full report can be viewed here.