In this episode, Carol Sargent and Tom speak with Professor Lynne Corner, a leading voice in ageing innovation and deputy director of the UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA).

Lynne describes how “Healthy ageing isn’t just about adding years to life – it’s about creating the conditions for people to live well for longer.”

Lynne shares how early experiences with her grandparents inspired a lifelong passion for healthy ageing and shaping environments where people can live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.

We explore how collaboration between communities, researchers, social entrepreneurs, carers and businesses can unlock practical solutions for an ageing population. From empowering people living with dementia to re-designing existing product to be age inclusive products, Lynne highlights the importance of innovation.

This episode offers insight into how cross-sector partnerships can drive meaningful change and create products, services and environments that support people throughout the world to live well for longer.

Interesting Topics
⏱ 05:40 – Why innovation and collaboration are essential for supporting longer, healthier lives
⏱ 10:20 – Opportunities for organisations, communities and businesses to co-create solutions for ageing well

Key Takeaways
• Early life experiences often shape our commitment to improving later life.
• Innovation in ageing requires collaboration between science, communities and industry.
• Inclusive design benefits people living with dementia, carers and the wider population.
• Sectors such as travel and tourism have growing opportunities to support healthy ageing through accessible and inclusive experiences.
• Building healthier ageing societies requires curiosity, creativity and cross-sector partnerships.

You can contact:

Dr Lynne Corner at lynne.corner@newcastle.ac.uk

The UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing at https://uknica.co.uk/

Dr Carol Sargent at https://sargentgroup.consulting/

Dr Tom Adler at https://getbide.com/

The Social Care Future movement, born of frustration, is powered by hope and putting power into people’s hands.

Our guest today is Neil Crowther, who joins us to talk about social care solutions. After a varied career in social care and disability rights, Neil founded the #SocialCareFuture movement in 2018.

“Focus your energy on trying to do what you can within the existing limitations and draw on the stories within your communities to power local changes”

Neil’s career has been shaped through growing up in the northwest of England, meeting influential figures, moving to London and his first job working for the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

He believes in the importance of involving people receiving support, while seeking their input in what’s needed and what will make a difference to them.

Listen to our discussion on the importance of changing the way social care is perceived: Changing the narrative from an expensive, broken system to one that is recognised as improving a person’s wellbeing, and that of the people and community around them.

We hope you can come away with some ideas on what you can do to influence social care solutions so we can all feel loved, looked after and welcomed.

If you have any input, ideas, or even questions about our discussion, we encourage you to contact us at the following:

Dr Carol Sargent: https://sargentgroup.consulting/

Dr Tom Adler: https://getbide.com/

Mr Neil Crowther: crowtherconsulting@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-crowther-19498134/

https://socialcarefuture.org.uk/

Our guest today is Tracey Jane Redwood, who is a grief counsellor. Tracey Jane starts by talking about growing up with parents who were always interested in people, particularly her father. You can hear her passion when she talks about him, and when she herself talks about interacting with people – she is clearly a people person.

After leaving school, Tracey Jane went to college where she studied for a City and Guilds in community care, working with people of all ages. She continued and became a fully qualified nurse, specialising in mental health. Tracey Jane is fascinated by psychology, our moods and how our brains work. She gave up nursing, to focus on bringing up her children, setting up her own cleaning business to give her the flexibility to work around the lives of her family.

When her children had grown up, she trained to be a life coach. Around the same time, within two months of each other, both her father-in-law and her godmother died. It was then she realised how little we understand the end of life and decided she would focus on supporting people with their grief.

Tracey Jane talks about how grief affects both our bodies and brains. She describes how she set up her business, particularly how she developed her business skills. Coming from a nursing background, she had no training in business basics, but networked and met somebody who became her business coach, while she became their grief coach.

Tracey Jane explains how everyone grieves differently, and how her 6-step process supports them. Tracey Jane shares some wonderful approaches on how to help someone who has lost someone close to them around Christmas, with a range of options on how you reconnect with the person you’ve lost.

Tracey Jane talks compassionately about the issue of anticipatory grief, and how you can support a person with dementia when somebody very close to them dies. We also discuss how people generally avoid talking about somebody who is dead, but Tracey Jane’s advice is that anything you say is better than saying nothing at all.

Take a listen to Tracey Jane to get a better understanding of how we can positively support ourselves, our friends and or business colleagues who have lost someone very dear to them.

You can contact us at the following:

Dr Carol Sargent: https://sargentgroup.consulting/

Dr Tom Adler: https://getbide.com/

Tracey Jane Redman:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/Tracey Janejaneredwood/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Grief-Whisperer/61564917436789/#

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_grief_whisperer/

Email: Griefwhisperer.uk@gmail.com