NEWS
NIHR JOINS UK RESEARCH FUNDERS IN PLEDGE TO BOOST INCLUSION OF OLDER ADULTS IN HEALTH STUDIES
The National Institute for Health and Care Research( NIHR) has signed a joint statement with other major UK research funders committing to greater inclusion of older adults in health and care research.
This exclusion can lead to gaps in evidence, less effective treatments and care that isn’ t properly tailored to those who use services the most.”
The joint statement commits funders to actively support the inclusion of older adults, challenge unjustified exclusion – especially where complex health conditions are involved and ensure research is designed with equity in mind.
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of NIHR, said:“ The NIHR is proud to champion the inclusion of older people in research, recognising that their meaningful involvement enriches our understanding and enhances the relevance of findings to improve health outcomes and tackle health inequalities.”
The move follows the Chief Medical Officer’ s 2023 annual report on healthy ageing, which found that older people – particularly those with multiple long-term conditions – are routinely underrepresented in clinical trials and research studies. This underrepresentation, the report warned, makes findings less relevant for those most in need and can worsen inequalities in healthcare delivery.
Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said:“ Despite often having the highest levels of need, older adults are frequently left out of research that directly affects their care.
NORTHERN IRELAND MAKES GIANT STRIDES IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE DATA RESEARCH
Northern Ireland is rapidly transforming health and social care( HSC) research through new data infrastructure, strategic partnerships and patientdriven innovation to improve public health and policy.
“ We came from a low base,” said Mark Lawler, Professor of Digital Health at Queen’ s University Belfast and Co-lead of HDR UK’ s Regional Network NI.“ When I arrived in NI, accessing data involved physically working on a computer in a room with no online capability. But as part of HDR UK’ s family, we were able to combine and expand expertise, working with colleagues and collaborators to transform Northern Ireland’ s HSC digital landscape.”
A major step forward is the encompass programme, delivering a single electronic health record for every resident and adopted across all five hospital trusts – the first devolved nation to fully integrate health and social care records.
The NI Trusted Research Environment( NITRE) now enables secure access to anonymised data, with public engagement via the Northern Ireland Public Data Panel guiding responsible use.
Research is already shaping policy. Lawler’ s team showed that treatment breaks for cetuximab could improve quality of life for bowel cancer patients and save the NHS £ 1.2 billion, prompting a regulatory change.
Momentum is building through projects such as Momentum- One-Zero, a £ 70 million AI and health data initiative and the £ 10 million cross-border ONEHEALTH Digital Innovation Hub.
“ Our mythical giants gave us the causeway,” said Professor Lawler.“ But today’ s digital innovators are blazing new and groundbreaking trails across Northern Ireland and beyond.”
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