Inequalities in mid to later life

We know that people can experience mid to later life very differently. For some people, as they get older, their health can change at a faster rate than others and they may become sick and unwell more frequently.

The reasons for this are complex, and often include many overlapping factors which build up over the course of their life and that have a negative impact on their health and wellbeing. This can include where they live, whether they are poor, their ethnicity, gender, access to education, and if they have regular contact with friends or family.

All of these factors can affect people’s physical and mental health, healthy life expectancy and social wellbeing.

Exploring inequalities in mid to later life is a cross-cutting theme in all of our work. Many of our projects seek to understand how inequalities in mid to later life result in poorer health and wellbeing for those most marginalised and disadvantaged throughout life.

We also work to find ways in which to promote more equal ageing for all, through our work with health and social care policy (via the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Older People and Frailty/Health Ageing), practice and implementation (via the NIHR Greater Manchester Applied Research Collaboration).

Current projects

Much of our work focusing on inequalities is funded through and conducted via the NIHR Greater Manchester Applied Research Collaboration Healthy Ageing Theme and the  NIHR Policy Research Unit in Healthy Ageing.

Resources

View resources relevant to inequalities in mid to later life.