Probably the single biggest challenge facing modern health and social care is ageing. One of the greatest achievements in the last century was in the extension of life expectancy from birth by almost 20 years from the start of the century to the end of the century. This was achieved through a variety of medical, societal and public health measures. The implications for society of an ever-increasing ageing population are enormous. We are committed to contributing to our understanding of ageing and the process of further increasing longevity. We are particularly well positioned in this regard as we have a large clinical division of Ageing and Therapeutics on the clinical side and have developed very large datasets relevant to ageing over the past 25 years.
The Ageing Research Centre (ARC) comprises an interdisciplinary group of researchers that aim to:
- Conduct excellent research that leads to improvement in the health, well-being and social inclusion of older people.
- Work across disciplinary boundaries to address research priorities that reflect the day-to-day realities of older people’s lives.
- Develop capacity in ageing research at UL and build collaborations with researchers, clinicians, industry partners, older people and their representative organisations.
Prof Rose Galvin is a Professor in Physiotherapy at the University of Limerick. She has a long-standing interest in applied health research in ageing, reflecting her professional background in physiotherapy and her post-doctoral training in applied clinical epidemiology. She is a recipient of a Health Research Board 2020 Research Leader Award exploring models of integrated care for older adults following discharge from the Emergency Department. She was Vice President of the Irish Gerontological Society (2019-2022) and is a founding member of the Ageing Research Centre at UL.
Dr Katie Robinson is currently Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy and Director of Postgraduate Research for the faculty of Education and Health Sciences. Katie is a founding member of the Ageing Research Centre. Katie is currently supervising postgraduate students in the following thematic areas, Early Supported Discharge, Stroke Rehabilitation, Innovative Models of Emergency Department Care for Older Adults, and Musculoskeletal Disorders.