Living Well

Living Well

Southern Policy Centre has been exploring the health and well-being of communities in the central South: what will allow everyone to enjoy full and active lives. In a series of three seminars hosted jointly with the University of Winchester, we aimed to encourage a wider discussion and debate about our society and how we can secure a better life for all.

The first seminar in 2018 discussed how our society’s demographic make-up is changing, with a growing proportion of people over 65 years of age. Our speakers considered how we can make a better life for older people. The second seminar in the spring of 2019 looked at healthy lifestyles: experts in diet, physical activity and mental well-being explored how we can ‘live well’. The third seminar in 2022 looked at the early years: how we can give our children the best start in life?  We summarise the three events here and you can find out more detail via the blogs further down the page.

Health and Social Care: The Challenge Facing the Central South

In March 2018 the University of Winchester and Southern Policy Centre hosted a seminar on health and social care, exploring the challenges facing the central South as we strive to meet the pressures demographic changes put on our health and social services. The growing number of older people is in no small measure due to the medical and social progress we have made in recent years. Yet, whilst many can look forward to longer lives, they may also face more complex medical conditions and physical challenges as they age.

One of the greatest challenges facing our public services, therefore, will be meeting the demands placed on health and social services by demographic changes. By 2039 over 65’s will make up 1 in 4 of the population, up from 1 in 5 today.

These changes will exacerbate the financial pressure local councils and the health services already face.  Hospitals will see more beds occupied by older people with complex conditions.

The challenge is not just one for public services. The health challenges older people face can put pressure on their families, and on our economy. Family carers will need to take time off work, will face financial pressures and may even themselves become ill through the stresses of caring.

Presentations from the event can be downloaded here.

The Briefing Paper can be downloaded here


Living Well: Health and wellbeing for a better quality of life

In 2019 the SPC and University of Winchester joint seminar explored what is meant by ‘living well.’ Lord Geoffrey Filkin from the Centre for Ageing Better, put it very simply: longer lives are a great opportunity, but what will make those extra years good? That is the question our seminar addressed. Lord Filkin highlighted five factors which make for a better life as we age: good enough health, good enough finances, sustaining identity and independence, living in a suitable home, and feeling socially connected and valued. So healthy lifestyles – keeping mentally and physically active, eating well and maintaining a sense of meaning in our lives – matter.

The University and SPC aimed to encourage a discussion about what living well means for all members of our community. This briefing paper provided some background information to stimulate thinking in advance of the seminar. It is not intended to be a full statistical analysis of health and other data for the area, rather it uses key statistics to highlight some of the challenges we face.

Download a copy of the briefing paper here


Starting Well: giving young people the best chance in life

The final seminar in 2022 looked at the first part of the journey through life, and how we can give children the best start. Our speakers will look at the impacts of physical and mental health, and of education and learning on children’s life chance, and how the circumstances they experience in their early years affect their future.

We are fortunate in the UK, our children do not experience the magnitude and scale of poverty and ill-health that their counterparts in too many countries face daily. However, as this briefing paper will discuss, we do see inequality across our communities, and that can have a very direct impact on the life chances of children. We focus on what can help children get a good start to their lives, and so will help them in securing a safe, healthy future.

children playing with animal toys

Starting Well: giving young people the best chance in life

Starting Well: giving young people the best chance in life Introduction The University of Winchester and Southern Policy Centre have been working together to encourage what we believe is a timely and important debate about how we can secure a better life for all members of society. On 26th January […]

Briefing-Starting Well: giving young people the best chance in life

Starting Well Southern Policy Centre has been exploring the health and well-being of communities in the central South: what will allow everyone to enjoy full and active lives. In a series of three seminars hosted jointly with the University of Winchester, we aimed to encourage a wider discussion and debate […]

activity bicycle bike biker

Living Well: Health and wellbeing for a better quality of life

Living Well: Health and wellbeing for abetter quality of life In 2019 the SPC and University of Winchester joint seminar explored what is meant by ‘living well.’ Lord Geoffrey Filkin from the Centre for Ageing Better, put it very simply: longer lives are a great opportunity, but what will make […]

A summary of our seminar on health and social care

A summary of our seminar on health and social care On March 22nd 2018, the University of Winchester and Southern Policy Centre co-hosted a seminar to explore the impact on the Central South of England of the changing make-up of our society. The event was chaired by Professor John Denham, […]

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