Study title: Keeping Older people healthy: deSigning and evaluating effective HEalth Services to maintain functional AbIlity 

Lead Researcher(s)

Celia Gregson

Funder(s)

The National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council, UK

Partner(s)

University of Bristol, The Health Research Unit Zimbabwe, Ministry of Health and Child Care Zimbabwe, City of Harare City Health Department, Biomedical Research and Training Institute

Background

Thanks to advances in health and sanitation, around the world people are living longer than ever before. In these added years of life, older people understandably want health and wellbeing, that is ‘healthy ageing’. However, healthcare services are not currently configured to provide for a rapidly ageing population, meaning older people are more likely to be living with disability and dependence. The World Health Organization defines healthy ageing as ‘the process of developing and maintaining a person's functional ability, encompassing their intrinsic capacity to walk, see, hear and remember within their environment, so they can do what they value’.

Study aim(s)

To develop and implement an evidence-based clinical framework for non-specialist assessment and management of chronic disorders associated with ageing that impact functional ability. The goal is to improve the health and wellbeing of older individuals living in Zimbabwe.

Study design

The programme consists of five work packages:

1. To characterize "healthy ageing" in Zimbabwe.

2. Formative work will develop an integrated multi-component health check for community-dwelling older adults.

3. To co-design and implement community-based healthy ageing peer-to-peer support groups.

4. Conduct a hybrid effectiveness-intervention study with a mixed-methods process evaluation of the healthy ageing check.

5. Leading to the co-development of a "Healthy Ageing Intervention Toolkit" for broader use.

Older people, carers and stakeholders will participate in formative study development and evaluation processes. The study will screening 824 older people living in Mufakose and Highfield in Harare, before moving to rural communities in Murehwa, for conditions impacting intrinsic capacity, spanning mobility, malnutrition, cognition, depression, vision, and hearing. If screening positive, initial on-the-spot care is provided, care is supported by community-based healthy ageing peer-to-peer support groups, promoting functional ability by facilitating self-management.

Study dates

2023 to 2025