Ageing, race and ethnicity

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The next twenty to thirty years will see important changes in the size and nature of the part of the total population that is defined as being in later life. Our population will continue to age with an increasing absolute and relative number of people aged 50 and over. At the same time there will also be a marked increase the proportion of people in black and minority populations in the later life age groups as we see the ageing of the migrant populations who moved to the UK in the post war period. However we know very little about the circumstances and experiences of black and minority elders in terms how they experience 'growing older'; what the key challenges (and opportunities) this confronts them with, what are the most important research questions to ask, what are the best ways to undertake research with these diverse groups; how should we train health and social care staff to work with diverse populations and how relevant is contemporary social and health policy for these diverse groups. In addition we have limited numbers of social researchers who are expert in this area of research so there is a pressing need to stimulate new researchers to move into this area and encourage those at the start of their careers to develop skills in this area of research. Thus our seminar series proposal is highly relevant to our understanding of population ageing and the challenges faced by a 'newly ageing' population and highly original in combining a focus on generating substantive state of the art overview of contemporary knowledge, identifying our key knowledge gaps, developing 'new ' researchers and creating a network of experienced and emerging researchers combining with practitioners and policy makers to develop vibrant collaborations and a mechanism to raise the profile of this important area of work. Our series of 6 seminars will identify and debate the key issues surrounding the experience of ageing amongst a diverse range of ethnic minority communities. We will include both the visible communities such as our African Caribbean and South Asian populations but those groups who are less visible such as Chinese, Arab, black African and Turkish communities. We will explore ethnic and cultural differences of mid and older life and focus upon the following questions:-. 1. What are the experiences of later life and old age for black and ethnic minority people?2. What are the most appropriate approaches to researching these groups?3. How well do current health & social policies support our ageing black and minority populations?4. How well equipped are health and social care practitioners to practice with an increasingly diverse ageing population? 5. What are the key issues that need to be addressed in future research?To answer these questions we will bring together established international academics, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners. We have established collaborations between non-governmental organisations such as the Runnymede Trust and Carers UK as well as having delegates from Age UK and Age Cymru. Embedded with each substantive seminar there will be time devoted to developing and supporting early career researchers so that our seminar series leaves a legacy of a new research network, a group of early career researchers skilled in conducting research with these populations alongside the dissemination of the key new knowledge generated as a result of our programme.