Covid crisis accelerates ageing population research
A £20m partnership to improve the care of older people has revealed it is to begin work in September.
The Advanced Care Research Centre (ACRC,) a seven-year multi-disciplinary research programme, is a major partnership between the University and Legal & General.
The project leads say that the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of one of ACRC’s main goals - to increase resilience in the UK’s social care sector.
The collaboration - the first of its kind in the UK - was announced in January and aims to improve understanding of care in later life and to revolutionise how it is delivered.
Legal & General is the UK’s largest pension fund investor and a leading provider of retirement products.
New approach
25 new researchers will begin working with senior academics from across the University, led by Professor Bruce Guthrie.
ACRC will combine the expertise of researchers across fields including medicine and other care professions, life sciences, engineering, informatics, data, and social sciences.
The Centre will enable data-driven, personalised, and affordable care to ensure a high quality of life for elderly people living in their own homes or in supported care environments.
Targeted investment
The £20m agreement marks the University’s largest industry investment to be confirmed as part of the £661m Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) initiative, its key deliverable as a partner in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal
The DDI programme aims to increase the City Region’s capacity to deliver data-driven innovation across ten sectors, including health and social care, in collaboration with industry and the public sector.
“Positive, evidence-based change to the way care is delivered to those in later life was important before this crisis, and will be even more important and urgent afterwards. The ACRC plans to deliver cutting-edge research which will think ahead to support and inform real improvement over three, five and ten years.