For Later Life 2017 programme
The For Later Life conference took place on Wednesday 8th February at QEII Conference Centre, Westminster, London.
See a summary of the day and listen to speaker presentations
Morning sessions
10:00 - 10:30 |
Registration and exhibition |
10:30 - 11:40 |
Morning Plenary |
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11:40 - 12:00 | Refreshments and exhibition |
12:00 - 12:50 |
Parallel Session 1: After the EU Referendum: strengthening the intergenerational contractThe outcome of the EU Referendum was a surprise. The fact that the result was close, with passions running high on both sides, has led to much soul-searching and some discord and resentment. According to the popular narrative, older people voted to leave and younger people voted to stay. In fact, it is clear now that it was a lot more complex than that but, nonetheless, ‘Brexit’ has arguably exacerbated inter-generational tensions – just as it has undermined other forms of solidarity too. Against this context how do we strengthen the intergenerational contract now? That’s the important focus of this session.
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Parallel Session 2: Helping consumers in vulnerable circumstancesOlder people tell us that what they expect as consumres is excellent service, not to be singled out as automatically 'vulnerable' just because of their age. How does a business know if is detecting vulnerability reliably and offering the appropriate support? What are the implications for its operations, customer relationship management and communications?
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Parallel Session 3: Person-centred care and support in practiceThis session will provide an opportunity to hear the latest findings from Age UK’s Personalised Integrated Care Programme. It will also include presentations from Phase 2 and 3 Integrated Care sites covering a commissioning perspective through to the experiences of Personal Independence Co-ordinators working on the front-line and as part of Multi-Disciplinary Teams. The workshop will explore how the Integrated Care model works in a local setting through to the lessons learned on the challenges and barriers of delivering integration.
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Lunch and exhibition (12:50 - 14:00)
Afternoon sessions
14:00 - 15:10 |
Afternoon Plenary |
Social connectedness and wellbeing - Pam Creaven, Services Director, Age UK The Internet and technology: help or hindrance?
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15:10 - 15:30 | Refreshments and exhibition |
15:30 - 16:30 |
Parallel Session 4: Is more supported housing the answer to social care? With 1.2 million older people having at least one unmet need for care, and our hospitals full because of the lack of social care, the debate has moved from whether there is a crisis to how to prevent the system from totally collapsing. Meanwhile, there is growing interest in the potential of supported housing to help older people stay fit, well and happy for longer. There is a huge shortage of housing of this kind but the question arises as to whether more of it might make up for the decrepit state of social care. Leading national figures will tease out the issues.
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Parallel Session 5: An ageing workforce: challenge or opportunity? This session will look at the challenges and opportunities of the UK’s ageing workforce, and hear from businesses and experts from different sectors on how employers can best take advantage of the skills and experience of their employees. Currently about a third of the workforce is aged 50+, which will increase as the State Pension age rises further, making understanding this a crucial issue for all employers.
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Parallel Session 6: Staying sharp to promote wellbeing Optimising wellbeing in later life depends, among other things, on maintaining good physical and cognitive health. Older people themselves say that staying as fit, well and independent as possible matters a great deal to them. An important part of this is working out what helps and hinders. Researchers are therefore trying better to understand how and why our thinking skills change as we grow older – what factors are behind the changes we might experience and which factors enable us to stay sharper for longer in later life? This session will explore latest evidence on several factors - physical activity, social engagement and sleep. Leading researchers will present findings from international studies and from recent reports from the Global Council on Brain Health.
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Conference ends (16:30)
For more information call the Age UK Advice Line on 0800 169 65 65 (8am-7pm, 365 days a year).