Live Longer Better – the Revolution gathers pace …..

April saw the launch of the next phase of Live Longer Better, following a pilot phase led by Active Oxfordshire and Optimal Ageing.

Co-ordinated by the Active Partnerships National Team, the 2-year Community of Practice and Learning (CoPL) comprises 20 Active Partnerships alongside national partners united behind the transformational shared purpose – to develop a new culture: from “care to enablement”, using physical activity as the driver to increase healthspan for older adults. This is a revolution, a cultural revolution and revolutions need a favourable conducive environment as well as committed revolutionaries, and three highly significant changes in the environment are taking place as we move into Phase 2.

Firstly the immensity of the consequences  of COVID 19 and the necessary lockdown are just becoming apparent: ‘long covid’, obesity, depression and anxiety, and as Age UK found, a highly significant decrease in walking ability and balance in our older population.

Secondly the impending impact of population ageing and social care costs is again in the headlines, if not in the Queen’s speech.  The need for, and possibility of, prevention is at last being recognised, for example in an excellent article by Camilla Cavendish in the Financial Times of the 6^th of May:

 “For the future of social care, we need a revolution not a reorganisation.  We need to reduce the need for social care by making the term ‘care’, meaning just doing things for people redundant and enabling people to achieve physical and cognitive development as they live longer .”

Sir Muir Gray

Thirdly the NHS White Paper, titled Integration and Innovation, published in February 2021, focuses on the need to develop systems, with the term system being used 251 times compared with the term hospital used only 21 times. These systems must be population based, give value for money and support broader social and economic development.  The Live Longer Better system delivered by local networks is an excellent model of such a system and forms a very good foundation for people engaging with the new NHS organisations.

So as we enter this next longer term phase of Live Longer Better, collectively we, the Active Partnerships, Sir Muir Gray and his expert Associates, together with our national organisations are fully charged and ready to lead this revolution.  We are ambitious and determined, and as a strong unified movement collectively utilising the power and strength of physical activity, we will drive forward the transformational shared purpose – to develop a new culture: from “care to enablement”.

For more information, please contact dweekes@activepartnerships.org

Additonal Information

About the LLB Community of Practice & Learning

The CoPL comprises 5 inter-connected elements, with central support (project management, strategic engagement, evaluation oversight, comms, finance management and fund raising) provided by the Active Partnerships national team:

• A Community of Practice and Learning comprising a professional development programme, thematic learning workshops and local system change activity supported by Sir Muir Gray and other experts in the field.
• Thought Leadership Events providing industry leaders with a platform to share evidence, insight and intelligence around key opportunities and challenges linked to healthy ageing. 
• A Resource Hub providing access to essential learning, research, tools and templates, supported by Learning with Experts, that will build as the CoPL develops.
• A National Advisory Network – a powerful collaboration of key partners enabling cross transference of information from local to national and vice versa, tackling key sector challenges and influencing key policy decisions. 
• The CoPL will be working closely with the Evidence Team at the Centre for Ageing Better to design an evaluation framework that seeks to measure progress at an Active Partnership, local network and national level, and embed live learning loops.

About Active Partnerships and the Active Partnerships national team

There are 43 Active Partnerships across England who work collaboratively with local partners to create the conditions for an active nation using the power of sport and physical activity to transform lives.

Active Partnerships are strategic organisations that recognise activity levels are affected by a complex system of influences and no signal organisation or programme can create sustainable change at scale. By adapting a collaborative whole systems approach, Active Partnerships seek to make active lifestyles the social norm for everyone and address the worrying levels of inactivity in society.

The Active Partnerships national team has been established to represent, support and lead the Active Partnerships and increase the individual and collective impact.

See https://www.activepartnerships.org/ for more details.

Participating Active Partnerships

National partners involved:

Current Network partners include: Age UK, UK Active, Sport England, Centre for Ageing Better, Active Partnerships, Public Health England, Richmond Group of Charities, Learning with Experts.