Healthy Lifespan Institute

Description

The University of Sheffield's Healthy Lifespan Institute adopts an innovative approach towards multimorbidity, defined as the co-existence of two or more chronic health conditions leading to disability and diminished quality of life in the elderly.

The Institute is the first of its kind in the UK, committed exclusively to understanding and preventing multimorbidity and frailty. It amasses over 180 academic researchers from diverse fields to offer a comprehensive perspective on ageing factors. It pioneers new medical treatments, health and social care policies, and public health guidance to enhance ageing quality and promote healthier, more autonomous lives.

Globally, individuals are living longer but with increased years of poor health, often suffering from multiple chronic diseases like osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. In the UK, multimorbidity affects 50% of individuals aged 65 and over. This issue is expanding, with the World Health Organisation projecting that the global population of over 60-year-olds will almost double from 12% to 22% between 2015 and 2050. Multimorbidity presents a significant challenge in public health and designing resilient health and social care systems.

Frailty, primarily affecting the elderly, results from biological ageing, the accumulation of damage to DNA and cells to the point of malfunction. Frailty leads to a loss of physical and mental resilience, decreased independence, and lower quality of life.

The Institute adopts a unique approach to ageing, considering factors like socioeconomic status, environment, occupation, diet, and lifestyle. A whole life course approach to ageing helps find early intervention strategies to prevent multimorbidity and frailty. Moving beyond a single disease model allows for the exploration of complex interactions leading to chronic conditions. The Institute's research has led to discoveries such as the direct causation of brain dysfunction and subsequent dementia by heart disease. This research is paramount as it helps find new treatments that delay or prevent both conditions.

The Healthy Lifespan Institute is dedicated to pioneering new practices, policies, and products to prevent multimorbidity and boost resilience in frail older adults. The Institute works with service users, patients, and carers to devise real-world solutions. It conducts research on the most effective combinations of social and behavioural change to promote healthy ageing across the lifespan. It is committed to training future generations of top-quality researchers dedicated to transforming the ageing experience.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Contact details

On the map

Go to larger version of this map

Categorisation

Type

Project Tags

University affiliation(s)

University of Sheffield
Sheffield