Our commitment to the public

UK SPINE is committed to carrying out high quality public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE). We have developed a strategy and action plan to guide our work in this area. You can find an overview of our mission and aims below and we will also add our PPIE findings and reports to this page as this work develops. If you would like further information on our approach to PPIE, are a charity or patient group who would like to discuss our project and PPIE work or would like any other information, please contact our PPIE Manager, Leah Fitzsimmons.

Public and Patient Resources

We have commissioned and developed a suite of resources with the help of colleagues at the British Society for Immunology who are experts at creating straightforward information on complex science projects. These resources are for anyone working on or interested in ageing research and you can download and use these resources as you wish. If you have any questions on them, just get in touch at l.fitzsimmons@bham.ac.uk

The potential of healthy ageing
The science of ageing
  • Public Guides – UK SPINE has developed a guide on how to understand and talk about ageing research alongside research communication charity, Sense About Science. You can download Making Sense of Ageing Research and use it to better understand the science of ageing or to help you find out more and start discussions with friends, family, healthcare professionals, educators, or even your MP. We also sponsored this Guide to Vaccinations for Over 65’s developed by the British Society for Immunology and CARINA network to help older people understand how vaccines work and what might be suitable for them.
  • Infographics – What is ageing research? Take a look at our infographics on the Science of Ageing and Healthy Ageing Research to find out more about the science behind UK SPINE and other projects that want to extend how many years of healthy life we can all enjoy.
  • Conversation Starters – Getting into the nitty gritty of ageing research. Like a lot of research areas, research to reduce the negative effects of ageing raises a lot of big questions. We want to get as many people thinking and talking about ageing research as possible so these discussions and debates can be had with the public and patients long before new medicines are ready for use. This activity explores some of the myths and misconceptions about ageing as well as some of the big questions this work raises. Download the activity sheet and find out more about the discussion statements in the facilitator notes. This activity is designed to be led by a researcher or scientist working on ageing, but you can download to discuss with friends or family too as you can find all the information you need in the notes.
  • Tips for Researchers – Ηow do you go about engaging the public with ageing research that can be confusing and complex? We’ve brought together top tips and guidance from experts in public engagement and ageing science in our Researcher Engagement Tips.
  • UK SPINE Project Videos – Hear about the UK SPINE project, what it aimed to do and what it achieved, directly from the project team, and most importantly from some of members of the public who supported the work.

    All about the UK SPINE project

    UK SPINE and the future of ageing research

Patient and Public Mission and Objectives

Aim

To improve awareness of healthspan and Geroscience and enable patients and the public, especially those experiencing or at risk of poor health in later life to be heard and to participate through research engagement and involvement

Messages

  • Need for urgent action to address the grand challenges of an ageing population (e.g. multimorbidity, polypharmacy)
  • Importance and potential of pharmaceutical interventions that target the underlying changes in our biology as we age
  • Value and advantages of collaborative working across research and industry
  • Biological hallmarks of ageing and approaches to target them (e.g. bisphosphonates, metformin and rapamycin)

Outcomes (public)

An increase in the number and diversity of the general public who feel:

  1. Well informed and able to understand the issues surrounding healthy ageing
  2. Confident in how those issues might relate to themselves and/or others
  3. Empowered and able to make changes, seek relevant support or get involved

Outcomes (UK SPINE)

  1. Raising awareness of the existence and importance of UK SPINE and research to develop healthy ageing therapeutics
  2. Insight into public opinion, attitudes and readiness/barriers to use of novel healthy ageing therapeutics
  3. Principles and evidence base for PPIE on novel healthy ageing therapeutics to guide future work