Reducing health and movement inequalities in later life.

Nearly 100 people came together at our first ever #LivingLongerBetter conference on 29th March at the Radcliffe Conference Centre, University of Warwick. Organised by Think Active together with Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire, the free event focused on the importance of movement for healthy ageing and ways of working together to reduce health and movement inequalities in later life.

The conference was well attended by organisations and individuals working with older populations in Coventry Warwickshire and Solihull who were interested in improving outcomes for older people, including but not limited to – Charities, CICs and community organisations, Health and Social Care professionals, managers and commissioners, Public Health leads, physical activity and leisure providers, frailty leads, social prescribers, volunteers, befrienders, ambassadors.

We were joined by some incredible guest speakers, including Sir Muir Gray, Dr Martin Sandler and Dr Lis Boulton PhD – who set the scene for joining the Live Longer Better revolution, the importance of keeping active and out of hospital, and some real life examples of what can be done, with a closing speech from our Director, Vicky Joel. The line-up of guest speakers were a real hit – one attendee, a local GP said “Muir’s talk was inspirational, it certainly brought home that as we get older, we need to do more not less!”

This preceded an afternoon full of collaboration and networking, in what is effectively the launch of our Living Longer Better network across Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire – with those in attendance highlighting this as another valuable element to the day: “It’s been great to network with other agencies and partners, learning about what they do and how we can work together to make a difference,” was the feedback from one local authority colleague who joined us.

Before the day closed, we asked attendees to complete their own pledge postcards, talking about how they will help people Live Longer Better and left inspired about how they can make positive steps in their own lives and to the lives of those around them!

For more information, or to be added to our Living Longer Better mailing list, please email Jordan.young@thinkactive.org