Later life is associated with an increased risk of developing comorbidities, and declining physical and cognitive abilities.
As such, care needs increase with increasing age. A key UEA research area is to explore and understand older people’s experiences of care and develop new approaches to preventing ill health as well as improving care and care experiences for older people living in the community, in care homes or when admitted to hospital. To ensure our research is meaningful, researchers work collaboratively with older people, their families, carers and health professionals locally, nationally and internationally.
An example of research into care in later life is the work undertaken by the UEA Hydrate Group, who have undertaken collaborative research to investigate hydration care in older people living in care homes. The group have investigated the effectiveness of tests to diagnose dehydration in older people, as well as investigating how best to support older people to drink well – fundamental to health and wellbeing, but a complex activity for many older people living with physical and cognitive frailty.
For more information contact Jane Cross
J.Cross@uea.ac.uk