Reframing Health Ageing

As we work toward the goals of the Decade across key action areas, there is a need to understand how success is measured and the improvement of health across the most relevant metrics across multi-disciplinary stakeholders and older people themselves. In this episode, Dr. Jane Barratt and guests, Dr. Amuthavalli Thiyagarajan Jotheeswaran, Technical Officer in the Ageing and Health Unit at the World Health Organization, and Mr. David Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer of the International Longevity Centre UK, discuss the importance of measuring impact to drive action on healthy ageing, prioritizing global data collection and using existing evidence and information to improve the lives of older people, while learning from global good practice.

Health care is too often fragmented within health systems, lacking patient-centeredness, and integration between settings and providers, impeding the highest level of care and counter to the promotion of healthy ageing. In this episode, IFA’s Dr. Jane Barratt is joined by Dr. John Muscedere, Professor of Critical Care Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen's University in Canada and the Scientific Director, and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Frailty Network, and Dr. Niamh Lennox-Chhugani, Chief Executive and Director of Research at the International Foundation for Integrated Care, to discuss the importance of patient centeredness in health systems, bringing specific attention to the prevention, management and care for frailty and bone health, as well as current gaps and strategies for policy and practice improvement.

Currently health and social systems are reactionary focusing on “curing” disease rather than prevention, resulting in undue burden on health and social systems. There is a need to re-orient health systems to foster a life-course approach to healthy ageing and shift to a longevity society which harnesses the advantages of longer lives, including economic opportunities and benefits. In this episode of the Reframing Healthy Ageing podcast, IFA’s Dr. Jane Barratt is joined by Prof. Andrew J. Scott, author and Professor of Economics at London Business School, and Prof. Bradley J. Willcox from the University of Hawaii to discuss ageing well, harnessing longevity and the learned perspectives of centenarians.

The Friends of Europe is a European think-tank which aims to build a more inclusive, sustainable, and forward-thinking Europe, through connection, debate, and idea generation. Live from the recent Friends of Europe Health Summit, IFA’s Dr. Jane Barratt is joined by Ms. Tamsin Rose of Friends of Europe, Mr. Sean Lybrand of Amgen and Mr. Stecy Yghemonos of Eurocarers to discuss the biggest challenges in health and social systems, including in the long-term care sector, adapting to an ageing society and advocating for policy change and system reform.