Mō Mātau

We have spent years cultivating strong relationships with our community groups, researchers, ministry staff, and others. Communities drive many of the research questions our teams pursue and are central to ensuring the research is suitable and the outcomes are useful and usable.

Ageing Well is doing science differently. Not all of our funded research is housed in traditional academic institutions, such as universities. What is unique about many of our more recent projects is that our research teams gather information from non-academic sources.

For example, Te Roro: A Mātauranga Māori study recognises karakia and carvings as a source of knowledge about Māori understandings of the brain. By recognising that such foundational information can come from a range of sources, this widens the scope of our research and also recognises the importance of mātauranga Māori.

Another way we do science differently is in the way we communicate our work. It’s not just about how we gather information from varying sources, it’s also about how we share what we have learned. For many Ageing Well projects, we have community partners who are embedded in the research team, who are helping drive the research and who will benefit from the outcomes.

Disseminating our learnings to a broader audience, and to the communities who help us achieve this, demonstrates our commitment to research being a reciprocal venture. This reciprocity is key: we collaborate with our communities and share information.

Creating meaningful change

Every New Zealander has a stake in our research: we are all ageing and we all want to age well.

As an organisation, we are committed to pursuing equity in ageing, and to becoming a better Tiriti partner. This is not simply a hollow statement; we are living and embodying this principle daily.

To ensure transformational change in the ageing space, Ageing Well has committed half of our Phase 2 research funding (2019-2024) to Māori positive ageing and projects that focus on Māori concepts and perspectives of ageing.

All projects funded by Ageing Well embed the principles of the Vision Mātauranga Policy to reduce disparities and inequities experienced by some older New Zealanders.

One of the more unusual and innovative things about Ageing Well is how we have established our leadership. Ageing Well leadership took critical steps in 2017 that are leading us towards being a better Tiriti partner, starting with merging our Governance Group and Kāhui Māori to create a combined co-governance group so that almost half of the decision makers were Māori.

Currently, five of our most senior leaders within the organisation are Māori. In the science and research sector, it is incredibly rare to be Māori guided. Ageing Well is leading the way for other organisations to follow.

We have also incorporated the use of kaupapa Māori (research by Māori, for Māori, with Māori), tikanga (culture, customs, and practices), te ao Māori (Māori world view), and te reo (language) into our organisation and the way we work. Everyone contributes and commits to this kaupapa – both Māori and non-Māori – and we apply an equity lens.

By doing these things – and more – Ageing Well can deliver on our equity outcomes and our vision of being a better Tiriti partner.

The next three decades will see a new phase in our understanding and experience of ageing in Aotearoa. Older people 65 years and over will see the biggest population growth, with 790,000 people in 2020, to potentially increase to 1.51 million in 2048. But within the segment of older people, those aged over 85 are set to more than triple from 88,000 in 2020, to 318,000 in 2048 (see Stats NZ website). Understanding the changing demographics is important to ensure there are the services and programs in place to meet different demands associated with these changes.

Essentially, the greater the number of older people in our community, the greater the need for affordable and accessible housing, the greater the demand on medical and health systems, and the need for associated community and age-related services.

However, the growth of Aotearoa’s older people is not equal. The proportions of Māori, Pacific, and Asian older people are increasing at a faster rate, so it is fundamental to not only address ageing in Aotearoa, but equitable ageing.

Ageing Well seeks to enable conversations of this kind now so that we are not faced with reactive strategies when demand is at its greatest. We wish to see Aotearoa plan well for the future of our whānau and help facilitate the ability for all New Zealanders to age well.

We aim to ensure that our research and its impact is fit-for-purpose and that its impact can change lives for the better.

He waka eke noa – we are in this together.

Mission

To harness science to sustain health and well-being into the later years of life enabling all New Zealanders to reach their full potential.

This will be achieved through delivery of our programme of research, underpinned by:

• Creating an environment that encourages collaboration between researchers who specialise in ageing research, so as to develop the innovative strategies needed for realising the potential of the longevity dividend
• Ongoing engagement with consumers and stakeholders from health and disability, voluntary and community services sectors who are at the front line of support for New Zealand’s older people in an increasingly diverse and complex ageing society, with emphasis on co-production of research and an integrated knowledge transfer model
• Infusing the research programme with the principles of Vision Mātauranga which seek to transform the burden of poor ageing that falls disproportionately on Māori and give expression to the long and rich tradition of Māori valuing and drawing on older people’s knowledge and wisdom

Vision

The vision of Ageing Well is to add life to years for all older New Zealanders.

This will be achieved by harnessing science to sustain health and well-being into the later years of life, in ways that:

• Allow personal dignity to be preserved into old age by mitigating mental, cognitive, and physical disability
• Support health, well-being and independence for all New Zealanders as they age
• Recognise the resourcefulness of older people and their ongoing social, economic, and cultural contributions to society
• Enable Ageing Well through mutual respect, support, and reciprocity amongst people of different ages

Further Information

The criteria for National Science Challenges proposals was outlined in the New Zealand Gazette:

New Zealand Gazette – 30 Jan 2014 (MBIE NSC Criteria)

New Zealand Gazette – 12 Sept 2017 (MBIE NSC Criteria for second period of funding)

The Ageing Well National Science Challenge was created in 2014 with the aim to enable all New Zealanders to reach their full potential through the life course, with particular reference to the later years of life.

This will be achieved through a programme of world-class research, underpinned by an environment of collaboration, continuous engagement with stakeholders and the Vision Mātauranga Policy embedded in the programme.

Strategic Documents

Ageing Well Research and Business Plan – June 2015

Ageing Well Future Strategy July 2018

Kia eke kairangi ki te taikaumātuatanga, Ageing Well National Science Challenge, is a national research collaboration involving the major New Zealand research groups in ageing research. Across Ageing Well National Science Challenge, we have expertise in public health, Māori health, social science, biomedical science, clinical practice, population and community health, and health service provision.

Through our national programme of funded research, Ageing Well links with international networks, with the other health and well-being Science Challenges, Centres of Research Excellence (such as Brain Research New Zealand), and key funders such as the Health Research Council of NZ, to encourage collaboration, and to build and leverage capability and resources.

During Phase One (2014-2019) Ageing Well supported research under five interlinking strands to address our mission: to harness science to sustain health and well-being into the later years of life enabling all New Zealanders to reach their full potential.

These strands focused on: enabling independence and autonomy/tino rangatiratanga of older individuals and their whānau and families; ensuring a meaningful life through social integration and engagement; recognising at a societal level the value of ongoing contributions of knowledge and experience of older people; reducing disability; and, developing age-friendly environments.

In Phase Two (2019-2024), our work is framed by two focus areas of research: Ageing and Māori and Health and Wellbeing in Ageing, as well as our Strategic Investment Initiatives, all of which incorporate elements of the five research strands from Phase One.

Ageing Well continues to invest in work that helps sustain health and well-being by optimizing brain and body health, and social and physical environments for older people.

Background

Ageing Well as one of 11 National Science Challenges was allocated funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for ten years (NZ$ 34.9M; 2015-2024). The funding was separated into two parts: Phase One from 2014-2019 and Phase Two from 2019-2024.

For Phase Two, Ageing Well proposed to build upon our previously gazetted research themes through two Focus Areas: Health and Well-being in Ageing and Ageing and Māori (Figure 1 below).

These areas were identified after extensive consultation that underscored the strong view that the original Gazette themes were too compartmentalised to facilitate the next phase of multidisciplinary, cross-institutional collaborations that were needed to specifically address equity issues and Ageing Well’s commitment towards becoming a Te Tiriti partner.

Focus Areas of Investment

In November 2018, Ageing Well was awarded $20.3 million to continue our work, specifically focusing on two research areas:

• Health and Well-being in Ageing; and
• Ageing and Māori

In 2019, Ageing Well allocated $10 million to fund research in the two research areas. Just under $5 million was awarded to the Ageing Well through Eating, Sleeping, Socialising and Mobility Programme (AWESSoM) project and $5 million was allocated to the Ageing and Māori focus area.

Two projects were successfully funded in this focus area: Tai Kaumātuatanga Older Māori Wellbeing and Participation: Present and Future Focus project and the Kaumātua Mana Motuhake Pōi: Enhancing Wellbeing, Social Connectedness and Cultural Identity project.

 Strategic Investment Initiatives

Ageing Well National Science Challenge recognised the limits to the resource it can direct, and that there was value in working alongside other research funders and consortia, that aligns with our vision and mission. To that end, we have collaborated and co-funded research with:

• The other health and wellbeing Challenges (A Better Start National Science Challenge and Healthier Lives National Science Challenge)
• Health Research Council (HRC)
• Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC)

Over 50% of Ageing Well’s Phase 2 funding is invested in Māori-led research.