Title: Lifecourse of Place: how environments throughout life can support healthy ageing
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: This proposal brings new perspectives to healthy ageing, one of the most pressing challenges facing society. It utilises a major data resource that is unique in providing detailed information about the lifetime (from childhood to older age) environmental circumstances of a cohort of people born in 1936. The proposal builds on earlier research on the "lifecourse of place" which has made important contributions to the literature on health and place; there remains a great deal of additional value to be extracted from these rich resources, particularly by focusing on biological outcomes. The overarching aim of the research is to consider whether lifetime exposure to green space, air pollution and area-level deprivation affect indicators of healthy ageing (measures of cognitive ageing, brain health and biological ageing). The specific objectives are to examine whether: (a) there are critical periods (childhood, early adulthood, adulthood and later adulthood) in which the three area-level characteristics are particularly important in explaining the later life outcomes, and/or (b) environmental factors accumulate over the lifecourse to affect healthy ageing. We will utilise information collected from participants in later life through brain imaging, cognitive testing and telomere length. These are robust indicators of healthy ageing, and existing evidence indicates each outcome may be affected by environmental features, although studies have not investigated full lifetime exposures. The project will involve colleagues at the University of Edinburgh (Centre for Research on Environment Society and Health, OPENspace Research Centre, and Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology. It will help to develop a growing research collaboration between these research centres, bringing together a range of expertise including a key role for Mark Cherrie as an Early Career Researcher. We have been engaging with non-academic stakeholders to design this project and throughout the study we will work closely with the key stakeholders likely to use the findings from this research and also academic advisors with relevant expertise. The project costs include provision for meetings to gather further advice as the project progresses and to achieve our aims to engage with potential users of the research and develop its impact.

Lay abstract: Providing new insights into the how the places we live and grow older can be best designed to support healthy ageing has emerged as an important research and policy priority. Many studies have looked to identify the barriers to health and effective functioning for older people, and into producing environments experienced in older age that support people to age well. However, we know much less about the aspects of environments experienced throughout life that might support the maintenance of healthy functioning in later life. Therefore, this interdisciplinary proposal draws together expertise from geography, psychology and landscape architecture to utilise novel longitudinal datasets to examine how place-based circumstances from childhood through the rest of life can enhance healthy ageing. The study draws on a new framework labelled the "life course of place" which helps us to examine how places evolve over time and matter at different points in the lifecourse in predicting later life health outcomes. We will utilise two longitudinal datasets - the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936) alongside a suite of small area historical environmental measures - which were collated as part of an earlier study. The combined datasets provide detailed information on a cohort of people born in 1936 (LBC1936) as well as the environmental circumstances in which the participants lived at various points during their lives. These data collection efforts resulted in a unique dataset that captured the lifetime environmental circumstances (including green space, air pollution and area-level deprivation) of a cohort of older people alongside detailed individual-level information, including high quality indicators of healthy ageing. A key novelty of our work will be to examine full lifetime exposures. The study utilises a set of robust indicators of healthy ageing available for LBC1936 participants, collected through brain imaging, cognitive testing and biomarkers of biological ageing (telomere length and epigenetic clock). These outcomes are rarely utilised in social scientific research. The overarching research question therefore is to examine whether lifetime exposure to green space, air pollution and area-level deprivation affect indicators of healthy ageing (measures of cognitive ageing, brain health and biological ageing). In particular, we will examine whether there are (a) critical periods (childhood, early adulthood, adulthood and later adulthood) in which the three area-level characteristics are particularly important in explaining the later life outcomes, and/or (b) whether the environmental factors accumulate over the lifecourse to affect healthy ageing. Our analyses will consider whether the relationships differ by sex and socioeconomic circumstances. By examining relationships over the full lifecourse, the research findings have the potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of places and the implications for health trajectories in later life. The UK Government has identified meeting the needs of an ageing society as one of its 'Grand Challenges' and has committed to identifying innovative ways to ensure older citizens can continue to contribute to society through leading independent and fulfilled lives. One of the defined missions in the strategy is to "ensure that people can enjoy at least 5 extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035, while narrowing the gap between the experience of the richest and poorest." Our research will improve our understanding of the role of place throughout life in supporting healthy ageing, and identify critical periods in which key environmental factors affect subsequent health trajectories and inequalities. Therefore, by identifying actionable, long-term and sustainable policy opportunities, and working with our key project partners, the proposed research has the potential to make significant contributions to meeting the needs of an ageing society.

Research activity codes: 2.2 FACTORS RELATING TO PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT;2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH;GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE