Our mission is to help people live longer better
A revolution is underway to enable people to live longer better, reduce the need for health and social care and reverse the effects of lockdown through the Living Longer Better network.
​The number of people over 80 is going to increase significantly in the next ten years with little increase in healthy life expectancy in prospect. This has huge implications for health and social care services.  It doesn’t have to be this way. The evidence is strong that the incidence of the major causes of disability and dependency can be prevented or delayed, compressing the period at the end of life when we are heavily dependent on others. More of the same won’t achieve this. A revolution is underway. Already about 20 million of the population are supported by networks of AgeUK, the Active Partnerships, the NHS, Local Authorities and the business community.  These networks all focus on the same objectives of the system for living longer better, which are to:
  • Prevent and mitigate isolation
  • Increase physical ability and resilience and increase healthspan
  • Promote knowledge and understanding about living longer better among older people and the wider population to counteract the detrimental effects of ageism
  • Create an environment in which people can fulfil their potential
  • Enable strengthening of purpose 
  • Support carers better 
  • Minimise and mitigate the effects of deprivation 
  • Reduce the risk of and delay or prevent  dementia
  • Prevent and minimise the effects of disease and multimorbidity
  • Promote living well and dying well

Mission and goals

Programme of learning
Our mission is to change the culture surrounding ageing, replacing the concept of care with the concept of enablement.  No matter how old someone is and how many conditions they have, the expectation should be that they can be enabled to regain lost ability, improve their physical and mental wellbeing and make an even greater contribution to society.

Library and resources

There is strong scientific evidence that if we put into practice the knowledge that we already have, people can live longer better.  Most of the serious problems that people face before their late nineties are not due to the normal, biological ageing process but to three other process that can be modified by individuals and society – loss of fitness, disease and negative, ageist thinking. Our library organises the evidence behind this and contains the knowledge that is needed to reduce the risk or disability, frailty, dementia and dependence on other people.
The main intervention to achieve the goal of the revolution is not technological, although it is enabled by technology.  Rather, the goal will be achieved through learning that opens up new ways of thinking for older people, the family, professionals and volunteers who support them, and the leadership of key decision makers.  Our learning programme is based on the best current knowledge and delivered through online learning in small interactive groups.

About us

We are three teams based in Oxford working in partnership, the Optimal Ageing Programme led by Muir Gray , e-learning specialists Learning with Experts and Active Oxfordshire, which has strong links with Sport England.
Knowledge is the Elixir of Life - the way we think about ageing is wrong; the new evidence from research lets us reimagine ageing and then realise the new paradigm — Muir Gray
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© 2021 Optimal Ageing Programme.