Advancing Research and Training on Ageing, Place and Home

Ageing in place is critical to the future of ageing societies in Europe. Older people’s places are recognised as fundamental to long-term health and wellbeing outcomes - a fact that has been magnified during the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, critically, almost a third of older people in Europe experience neighbourhood deprivation, a fifth encounter a lack of cohesion, a growing number are homeless, and approximately 3 million people continue to reside in institutional settings. There are significant concerns that efforts are failing to support ageing in place. With its development as a field fragmented across disciplines and sectors, and with few researchers equipped to tackle this fragmentation, innovation in research and policy risks stagnation. This is despite the renewed interest and urgency arising from the pandemic in de-institutionalizing later life residential experiences. HOMeAGE will institute an interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international programme of doctoral training and research that drives the development of new leaders in excellence for the advancement of evidence-based innovation on ageing in place. In tackling the three interconnected challenges of (1) needs and systems, (2) home and belonging and (3) rights and voice, HOMeAGE delivers a unique employability and skills development process for doctoral researchers (DRs) ensuring that they can lead the response to current research and policy deficits. HOMeAGE addresses significant demand for DRs who possess essential competencies to overcome challenges concerning Europe’s demographic transition, and ‘sticking points’ in its developing Silver Economy. HOMeAGE directly addresses the critical priority of enabling ‘older people to age in a place that is right for them’ within the WHO’s Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing. Crucially, it also addresses strategic themes in the EU Green Paper on Ageing, and key goals within the UN Sustainable Development Agenda concerning equity and sustainability.