Ageing cities: public health approaches to creating a mentally healthy London for older citizens

Date20 November 2009
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200900017
Pages20-27
Published date20 November 2009
AuthorJill Manthorpe,Steve Iliffe,Michelle Cornes,Jo Moriarty,Les Bright,Roger Clough
Subject MatterHealth & social care
20 journal of public mental health
VOLsISSUE
© Pier Professional Ltd, 2009
Key words:
older people;
mental health;
public health;
London
and sec urity in orde r to enhance q uality of lif e as
people age. In p ractical terms, an age-friendly city
adapts its structures and services to be ac cessible to
and inclusive of older people with varying needs and
capacities.’ (World Health Organization, 2007)
Beco ming an ag e-frie ndly city r equire s gre ater
partnership working, not just across policy-makers
and professionals, but also with older people. Nearly
40 years ago, Sennett (1970; p197) sugg ested that
cities’ administrations could enhance opportunities
for ‘communit y life’ or as w e might now ter m it
‘well-being’, but such potential is often thought of
in relation to innovation, creativity and the ‘youth’
of cities. However, the World Health Organization
(WH O) (2 007) makes a sp ecific link betw een
ageing and urbanisation:
‘Po pula tion ag eing and ur bani zati on a re the
cul minati on of succ essful huma n dev elopm ent
during last century. They also are major challenges
for this century. Living longer is the fruit of critical
gains in public health and in standards of living.’
Thi s arti cle d raws on a study of o lder people ’s
exper iences c onducted to inf orm the mid-poin t
Introduction
While there is much interest in promoting mental
health and well-being, few studies ask older
peo ple about th eir exper ience s of hea lth and
local governm ent serv ices or explore how the se
may cont ribut e to a me ntally hea lthy socie ty.
Frequ ently, sur veys are problem-f ocused, ri ghtly
so i n many circumst ances, because they se ek to
enquir e about di fficulties of access to servic es or
to address service deficits. Neither approach is the
only w ay of explo ring older people’s e xperiences
or views as t he pr elude to t he de velopm ent o f
public health p lans and strategies. In Lon don, the
need for rounded pictures of ageing in later life is
par ticula rly i mporta nt (C rosby, 2004 ). Thi s is
because pan-London strategies are emerging on the
basis of age: the city’s population profiles differ from
those of other parts of England, and London’s older
populations are mobile, diverse and influential.
London i s the focus of this article b ut there is
global interest in cities’ ageing populations (World
Health Organization, 2007; Biggs & Tinker, 2007)
and the ways in which aspirations can be realised for
age-friendly cities:
‘An age- friendly city encourages ac tive ageing by
optimi zing opport unities fo r health, p articipatio n
EVALUATION
Jill Manthorpe
Professor of Social Work,
Social Care Workforce
Research Unit, King’s College
London, UK
Steve Iliffe
Professor of Primary Care
for Older People, University
College London, UK
Michelle Cornes
Research Fellow, Social Care
Workforce Research Unit
King’s College London, UK
Jo Moriarty
Deputy Director, Social Care
Workforce Research Unit
King’s College London, UK
Les Bright
Independent Consultant,
Exeter, UK
Roger Clough
Eskrigge Social Research,
Lancaster, UK
OPRSI
(Older People Researching
Social Issues)
Correspondence to:
Jill Manthorpe
Social Care Workforce
Research Unit
King’s College London
Strand, London WC2 4LL
UK
Email: jill.manthorpe@kcl.ac.uk
At a time of increasing interest in mental health in later life, the role of public health approaches
is potentially heightened. This paper draws on interview data with older people living in London
to consider the interplay between personal and public approaches to health and well-being. The
inter views were und ertaken as par t of the midp oint review of t he UK government’s 10-yea r
strate gy for old er people (Healthcare Comm ission et al, 2006) and the soci al characterist ics of
London are considered.
Ageing cities: public health
approaches to creating a
mentally healthy London for
older citizens

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