Future of Ageing
This blog is for anyone interested in the world-wide phenomenon of population ageing. Why we are ageing so fast, what’s the future for our shrinking towns, what does it mean for us as individuals and what policies do we need to see us through this change.
About Nicky McDonald
Nicky McDonald is Nelson City Council’s Senior Strategic Adviser. She has won a Winston Churchill Memorial Scholarship to pursue her interest in our ageing world. For the month of June she will be a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University’s Institute of Population Ageing. Being supported by public money, Nicky wants to share what she learns with anyone who is interested in the issues.
It’s never too late to try a new career
Heard of “encore careers”? Imagine you’ve had a long successful career in one field and are getting ready to retire. But you have more to offer! You don’t want to give up the world of work altogether. Time for an encore.
Designing a better world to grow old in
I spent an hour yesterday wandering around an exhibition of design projects at the Royal College of Arts in London. Their students are an innovative lot – there were plans for a toaster that sneezes to let you know when its crumb tray is full, a driverless public service car that uses minimal space as it never parks and a birth registration system to ensure Syrian refugees in Lebanon do not end up stateless.
Six lifestyle choices that can cut your risk of dementia
I attended an interesting lecture today titled “Can Five a Day Keep Dementia Away”? The speaker was Professor John Gallacher who is in charge of the UK’s Dementias Platform programme which is a £53 million collaboration between universities and drug companies to find treatments for dementia. Part of their job is to study lifestyle changes that can delay the onset of dementia.
So long Europe...
I have been very caught up in the Brexit debate while here. It has been a constant topic of conversation and I couldn’t even nip out for groceries without both leave and stay campaigners thrusting leaflets at me.
A shrinking world - good thing or bad thing
I came to Oxford to study ageing but now I’m here depopulation keeps demanding my attention.
They’ll carry me out of here in a box
Today’s blog is about that “ideal” of ageing in place but first just to mention something that had me puzzled.
Spend a Penny
I’ve came across a couple of schemes I think are clever adaptations to an ageing population.
Arrival
So, here I am at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing after 38 hours of travelling door to door. The Institute has a very diverse group of researchers working in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa – so many different accents in the corridors.
Why has the world stopped growing?
And what do we do about it?