Recommendations and conclusions 62 shown
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Life expectancy in the UK continues to rise, but since 2011 it has risen at a slower rate. Healthy life expectancy is not keeping pace with increases in life expectancy, resulting in a growing period of poor health towards the end of life. Inequalities in healthy life expectancy are stark, with people in the least deprived groups living more than 18 years longer in good health than those in the most deprived groups.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government, along with NHS England, Public Health England, and other agencies, prioritise reducing health inequalities. In its response to this report we request that the Government sets out a plan for reducing health inequalities over the next Parliament.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Multimorbidity—the state of having two or more long-term conditions—is more common in old age. There is evidence that the rate of multimorbidity is increasing, so it will become an increasing issue for the NHS. The environmental and biological factors driving the development of multimorbidity are not fully understood.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Care pathways are not well coordinated or integrated for older people, particularly those with multimorbidity. Patients often have to see multiple doctors, with multiple specialisms, with little coordination between specialists to reduce the burden on patients.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that, as was proposed in 2013, the NHS ensures that all older patients have a designated clinician. This clinician would have oversight of the patient’ s care as a whole, and should coordinate activity across multidisciplinary teams, which should include members from across the health and social care sectors. The clinician could be from either primary or secondary care, depending on the patient’s needs.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that designated clinicians for older people ensure that Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments are used regularly for older patients, particularly for those with multimorbidity. The Government should ensure that training in how to conduct Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments is a core part of medical training, and that training is provided on an ongoing basis, in particular to GPs.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Medicine reviews are a core component of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments, and if these are used more widely, with the involvement of multidisciplinary teams, the incidence of polypharmacy and the risk of adverse drug reactions should reduce.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the review into overprescribing—which is due to report to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in late 2020—should be published as soon as possible.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Understanding of the underlying biological processes of ageing has advanced significantly in animal models, but translation to human ageing is incomplete. The lack of accurate biomarkers for human ageing is an impediment to assessing an individual’s biological age.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Promising advances have been made in the development of drugs that target the underlying processes of ageing. These could delay the onset of age-related diseases and reduce polypharmacy. Research into repurposing drugs is particularly welcome, as such drugs have already been tested for safety, dosage and tolerability.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The fact that clinical trials are usually approved only if they target a single indication poses a challenge to research into drugs that target underlying ageing processes. The novel design of the TAME trial in the US hopes to provide proof of concept for trials targeting the ageing process itself.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) show greater willingness to approve trials which target multiple conditions. It should also explore the use of novel trial endpoints, such as using biomarkers of ageing as measures of success in treatments targeting the ageing process.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Historically, clinical trials excluded older people and people with multimorbidity, and some continue to do so. This is a particular issue for drugs targeting the ageing process, as older people and those with multimorbidity will be the main recipients of such drugs.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) ensures that older people are included more frequently in clinical trials, particularly where the drug will be used primarily in that population. When developing novel trial designs for drugs targeting the ageing process, as recommended above, these should also allow for inclusion of people with multimorbidity.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
How to target ‘anti-ageing’ drugs to provide the greatest benefit to the individual, the NHS and society will be an important issue in future but requires further research and evidence from clinical trials. A health economics analysis of such treatments will be needed to determine the optimal time and populations for intervention.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
There has been a lack of effort since our report in 2005 to ensure research into ageing—as opposed to research into specific age-related disease—is properly funded, co-ordinated and included within the remit of particular research councils. This may have contributed to the poor translation of basic research into clinical trials or new medicines.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that UK Research and Innovation commit to funding further research into the biological processes underlying ageing as a priority, in particular to address gaps in understanding the relevance of ageing hallmarks to humans. Research to identify accurate biomarkers of ageing in humans should also be prioritised, to support studies to improve health span.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that UK Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Health Research support further research into drugs that target the ageing process—including proof of concept trials using repurposed drugs (such as in the TAME trial).
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that UK Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Health Research commit to working more closely to ensure rapid translation of ageing research into clinical benefit.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Chief Medical Officer is given responsibility for overseeing the coordination of ageing research between UK Research and innovation and the National Institute for Health Research.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The UK has historically been a major player in drug research and development, and has the potential to be a key player in the development of treatments targeting the processes of ageing. However, companies in the UK struggle to commercialise such innovations and often have to move abroad to access finance.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government ensure the UK remains a global leader in drug research and development. It should work towards making the UK a more attractive environment for growth capital investment, to stop UK innovations moving abroad after the discovery stage of research.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
There was scepticism from the research community that the target of five extra years of healthy life can be achieved by 2035, and a view that the focus of the Industry Strategy Challenge fund on technological solutions and data analysis is unlikely to help deliver the target.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The UK has the opportunity to be a leader in understanding the impacts of lifestyle on health, using its well-established cohort studies in conjunction with its expertise in emerging areas of biomedical research. To achieve this, it is important that longitudinal cohort studies are provided with longer-term funding that gives greater security to these studies. It is also important that cohort studies recruit sufficient numbers of people from different ethnicities and socioeconomic groups to better understand health inequalities in older adults and how these may be resolved in the longer term.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The impacts of smoking and excessive alcohol consumption upon ageing—and the potential for ill health and disability in old age—may be an important issue for some people when considering their behaviours and so could be an effective part of public health messaging.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Eating a balanced diet and maintaining a healthy body weight into old age are key to healthy ageing. Dietary advice has to reflect the nutritional needs of older people and the diversity of those needs.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The benefits of physical activity are a cornerstone of public health advice, but a more detailed understanding of its positive effects—and the negative effects of sedentary time—could allow the development of advice that is more targeted. This is important throughout the life-course, including for older adults who have lower levels of physical activity.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Cognitive ability and psychological stresses are key aspects of health throughout the life-course, but they also influence general health and might affect the underlying processes of ageing. Cognitive activities—including education, training and good-quality employment—and reduced stress are means of improving health in later life.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The factors that contribute to healthy life expectancy are well known, and form the basis of healthy ageing advice, namely: not smoking, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, eating a balanced and nutritious diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and being physically active. There is also evidence of the role of cognitive activity and reduced stress in healthy ageing.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Despite the evidence linking behaviours throughout the life-course to health in old age, the potential gains from healthy behaviours are not being fully achieved. Different aspects of the evidence could potentially have an impact upon people’s behaviours, for example: the fact that healthy lifestyles can reduce the time spent with disability in old age; and the discovery that behaviours can modify underlying processes of ageing.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that organisations with responsibility for healthy ageing advice incorporate findings about the benefits of healthy behaviours that may have a larger impact upon people’s behaviour than existing messaging. The benefits of building up good levels of physical fitness and cognitive reserve should be promoted, particularly to people in disadvantaged groups that suffer the worst health.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
There is a need to better understand the scientific basis of the mechanisms by which lifestyle factors affect ageing. There is also a need to understand how requirements change in old age in order to develop advice covering, for example: the nutritional needs of older people; the benefits of physical activity for cognitive health; and the impacts of sedentary time.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that UK Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Health Research ensure that they support interventional studies to establish the mechanisms by which lifestyle and environmental factors affect health in old age, in order to improve advice for healthy ageing.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Public Health England’s advocacy for a life-course approach to healthy ageing is to be commended. Early uptake and adherence to a healthy lifestyle may continue into mid- and later life, but it is never too late to benefit from an improved lifestyle. Interventions tend to be more successful if they are designed with an understanding of what motivates people at different ages and the transition points at which they are more likely to act on public health advice.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
A balanced approach to public health advice can help to achieve healthy ageing, with general messages provided to the whole population and tailored advice for groups with specific needs—in particular, disadvantaged groups who suffer from the worst health.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government clearly defines the roles and responsibilities for healthy ageing among national and local government and their agencies. The creation of the National Institute for Health Protection should be used as an opportunity to revitalise work to promote healthy ageing across the life-course, including by improving coordination across the sector and drawing on the best information for developing public health advice.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government implement a concerted and coordinated set of national policies to support healthy ageing, including: regulatory and fiscal measures, actively to encourage people to adopt lifestyles that support healthy ageing ; increasing the reach of the NHS Health Check to those in disadvantaged groups who will benefit the most; and working with local authorities on the funding of local services, housing and infrastructure to encourage and facilitate healthier living across the life-course, including the necessary services to maintain health and independence in old age.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government use planning rules to ensure that homes and communities are accessible for people with limited mobility and adaptable as their needs change with age. The Government should ensure that sufficient funds are available—for example through the Disabled Facilities Grant—to facilitate improvements to existing homes. The priority should be areas with poor housing and infrastructure, in order to reduce health inequalities.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
More widespread use of telecare services—particularly modern digital systems with monitoring capabilities—may enable more people to live independently in their homes for longer in old age. The upcoming digital telephone switchover provides impetus for this change and is an opportunity for local authorities to introduce more comprehensive services to facilitate safe and independent living.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Data-driven services and emerging robotics and AI systems could provide significant support to older people, to enable them to live independently for longer. The results of ongoing projects in the UK and abroad will help to determine what role robotics can play.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government makes targeted and strategic investments in research for the design, evaluation and uptake of data-driven services, assistive robot technologies and AI for older people, in order to develop national expertise and critical mass in this important area.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The use of wearable and implantable technologies for monitoring health conditions and administering treatments is likely to become increasingly common. Such technologies have potential to provide more precise and timely treatment, and could contribute to better health and greater independence in old age.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Non-medical devices can be a source of useful information for individuals seeking to live more healthily. It will be necessary for the Government to continue to monitor developments in the sector to ensure an appropriate approach to standards.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The Government is to be commended for developing its loneliness strategy. Older people need strong social contacts, with the priority being face-to-face interactions. There is also the need for people to develop digital skills to use technologies that can reduce social isolation and loneliness.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
With much healthcare data now held electronically, alongside data generated by non-medical devices, there is a valuable opportunity to develop more sophisticated methods of monitoring and predicting how well people age. There is a need to further reduce technical barriers to data integration across different platforms and administrative barriers to providing anonymised patient data for clinical trials.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
In order to improve uptake and usefulness of technologies and services that can contribute to healthier and independent living in old age, it is important to base the process of development and deployment around older people’s needs, preferences and abilities. It is beneficial for older people to be involved in the design of these products and services.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Public trust in data security is key if data-driven services and new technologies are to be deployed widely and used to their potential. Ongoing public engagement will be necessary to reassure the public on matters of trust and privacy regarding healthcare data, so that people are more willing to share data that can contribute to their own healthcare and to the development of wider advice for healthy ageing.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that Government ensures internet access for all homes so that older people can access services to help them live independently and in better health. The Government should promote and support lifelong digital skills training so that people enter old age with the ability to use beneficial technologies. Greater support should be provided to the large proportion of the current older generation which lacks these skills, so that they do not miss out on the benefits of available technologies.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The funding for new innovation in products and services seems to be aimed more at larger companies, presumably in the hope of achieving commercialisation more quickly and with less risk. However, small and medium-sized enterprises contribute significantly to innovation, and there would be merit in these organisations having easier access to funding to support innovation.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
There is significant potential for development of new technologies and services to support healthier and independent living in old age, including medical devices and robotics. There is scope for further deployment of existing technologies such as telecare and ‘activities of daily living’ systems.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
Technology and services can contribute to independence and social connectedness in old age, and to health to a lesser extent, but it seems unlikely that they can add five years of healthy and independent living by 2035. Moreover, there is a risk of technology and services widening health inequalities in old age, due to barriers to uptake that are more prevalent in disadvantaged groups. The Government will have to intervene decisively and for the long-term in order to make these tools ubiquitous and beneficial for the whole population in old age.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
When allocating funding through the Ageing Society Grand Challenge, we recommend that the Government supports the deployment of technologies that contribute to healthier and independent living—both those available now and those that may become available in future . This should prioritise disadvantaged groups in order to bring the greatest health benefits, whilst also realising economic benefits of innovations that are developed in the UK .
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The Government is not on track to achieve the Ageing Society Grand Challenge mission to ensure five years of extra healthy life by 2035 while reducing inequalities, and does not appear to be monitoring progress towards the mission. It is hard to see how the target could be met without significant changes to the way it is managed.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Government review the feasibility of the target to increase healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035, and revise or re-commit to it. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care should commit to reporting annually to Parliament on progress towards the target. The Government should also revise or re-commit to the target to reduce inequalities and outline measurable targets for the reduction in inequalities it hopes to achieve by 2035.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
It is not clear who in Government is responsible for overseeing the Ageing Society Grand Challenge mission, aside from broad ministerial oversight from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. We are concerned that this policy has no clear ownership.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The position taken by the Government that the challenge and the mission are overlapping but distinct is confusing, and we are concerned that achieving the mission does not appear to be at the core of the Grand Challenge.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care appoints a senior responsible officer for achieving the mission of the Ageing Society Grand Challenge, as this does not appear to be covered by the senior responsible officer for the challenge.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
We are concerned that there is not a cross-government strategy for achieving the mission. Without one, the Ageing Society Grand Challenge is unlikely to achieve the mission of increasing healthy life expectancy by five years while reducing inequalities.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The Government’s statement that the part of the mission pertaining to inequalities is not the sole responsibility of the Ageing Society Grand Challenge is confusing. Other aspects of policy will contribute to this goal, but that does not mean that reducing inequalities should not be at the core of the cross-government strategy for healthy ageing.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care—along with the senior responsible officer—produces a cross-government strategy which clearly states how the Government plans to achieve the Ageing Society Grand Challenge mission by 2035 . The strategy should include a roadmap for how the Government intends to achieve the mission, and should specify the departments responsible for working towards the target.
Recommendation · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Recommended (the committee's words)
We recommend that the cross-government strategy explicitly addresses the issue of reducing inequalities in healthy ageing, without ‘passing the buck’ to wider Government goals or statutory obligations. In producing the strategy, the Government should seek wide input from stakeholders; most importantly, from older people.
Conclusion · 1st Report - Ageing: Science, Technology and Healthy Living
Concluded (the committee's words)
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown tragically how poor health makes people more vulnerable to further health risks, and has highlighted the health inequalities associated with deprivation—including for ethnic minorities. The pandemic has harmed the health of the wider population, and the longer-term health impacts—including on mental health—are unknown, increasing the need for action to encourage and facilitate healthy ageing.