Unlocking the power of data science to improve wellbeing in later life
With the global population steadily ageing, the quest for improving later life has never been more critical. University of Leeds’ Reimagine Ageing network is an interdisciplinary network supported by the Horizons Institute that helps to challenge perceptions, narratives and experiences of ageing.
A growing area of the network’s focus is looking to data science to help uncover insights and solutions to unlocking the challenges of well-being in later life.
In June, the network brought together a multi-sectoral community of people working in data science and health to develop further collaborations, share knowledge on new methods, and develop the University of Leeds as a centre of excellence in data science for older people.
An interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral approach
Led by Dr Rebecca Birch and Dr Oliver Todd, the narrative at the event was clear about the potential for data science to support better experiences, health and wellbeing in later life.
Rebecca says: “The main aim of the event was to bring together people from different disciplines who are working in ageing research using data, and who might not necessarily know the existence of other groups.
“We know that there are a lot of different individuals and groups working in this area, but to become a world-leading resource on this, we needed to start by bringing everyone together. This can help solve any problems for people that might be answerable by someone else from the same group.”
Oliver says: “We wanted to bring together people across the interdisciplinary spectrum, from those working in computing, through those working in data cleaning and data management statistics, epidemiology, software support, those involved in the application including clinicians, patients and other stakeholders. In this way, we hope we can better optimise the environment, the infrastructure and the community to grow further in this field of research.”
The event started with an introduction from Rebecca and Oliver, followed by three keynote lectures by Andy Clegg from Health Data Research UK North (HDR UK), Dr Kate Best, and Dr Sam Relton from the University of Leeds.
Later, the event introduced lightning talks from Dr Chidinma Nwabunike from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Zoe Hancox from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and Dr Amy Downing, Dr Yanis Boussad, Dr Yuanxuan Yang, and Dr Maeve Murphy Quinlan from the University of Leeds.
Creating connections in the field
Oliver says, “There were three key takeaways: the potential for existing resources, an appreciation of the need to work together, and the potential to answer questions that have already been set.
“Firstly, the vast range of people involved in data science at the university interested in getting together is exciting. There were people present from geography, transport, nutrition, arts and the humanities to data science, IT support and various industry partners.”
Oliver stresses the importance of having a whole range of stakeholders involved in discussions around improving experiences of ageing.
He says: “I think what was valued by everybody in this event was having people across that spectrum to engage in a dialogue.
“To make the work of people upstream worthwhile, it is necessary to involve people downstream — to think about the application and involving people who are involved in developing software packages and electronic health record data housing, as well as those who are going to use the tools in clinical care. So, I think there was an appreciation by everybody that we need to work more together, and there’s much potential for future collaboration.”
Challenges in using data science to improve well-being in later life
There is significant potential for data science to make a meaningful impact for those working with older people and for the older people themselves, but there are also challenges that come with this.
Oliver says: “There are statistical challenges. Older people particularly will have a lot of missing data, either because they don’t present to services or they present unequally, and this makes some people have more missing data than others.
“Older people face competing risks from multiple long-term health conditions, and this needs to be considered in the analysis when looking at particular health outcomes. And there are issues like inequality and what we call intersectionality — the interaction of different vulnerabilities by virtue of age, sex, deprivation, and ethnicity.
“To address these challenges, we were able to showcase some new methods and listened to talks by Kate Best, who is using novel methods to address these concerns.
“Then, to address particular challenges, we highlighted challenges common to people using routine data from a range of perspectives and solutions to those challenges, including the involvement of the right people across the data science pipeline and focusing research work on harnessing data into applicable tools that have relevance and benefit to the care of older people in routine clinical care.”
What’s next for data science and the Reimagine Ageing Network?
Having started the conversation about the future of data science and ageing research with this first event, Rebecca and Oliver are now looking at ways of maintaining the momentum.
Rebecca says: “One of the key learnings from this first event was that there was more interest in it than we were expecting, and I think we want to go forward, do more focused events, as well to give everyone a chance to vocalise their opinions.
“We are looking at setting up a sandpit event for funding calls in the near future and to continue building this network, potentially repeating the event in 12 months, and bringing more people together.
“We are also looking at setting up an online resource to connect researchers with the relevant people who might be able to help them with a particular interest or expertise in an area they do not currently have.”
The long view: creating a centre of excellence for ageing research at the University of Leeds
The work being done by both Rebecca and Oliver to bring people together to develop a thriving community of data scientists and researchers specialising in ageing might be a recent development, but it is supported by excellent conditions for multisectoral collaboration in the Leeds and Bradford City Regions.
Oliver says: “Many of the software providers are headquartered in Leeds, including electronic health record data providers TPP and EMIS. Many policymakers are based in Leeds, such as NHS England, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Department of Health and Social Care, and major universities. There are also big citizen data sets within Connected Bradford offering linkage of patient records across primary and secondary health care, social care, demographic data as well as good prescribing data, which is quite unusual.
“We are also connected to national and international networks; we have strong links with the British Geriatrics Society and the European Geriatric Medicine Society. Other networks were also highlighted at the event, including the Born in Bradford and Child of the North projects, so there is quite a lot of potential for collaboration. We’ve also got the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, and Nexus, which is a part of the university that works with small businesses.
“The other player is Health Data Research UK, which has a northern centre co-led by Prof Andy Clegg at the University of Leeds and Prof Munir Pirmohammed at the University of Liverpool.
“Because data science is an emerging area of science, there are still pockets all along that pipeline displaced across centres dispersed regionally. And sometimes, that means collaborating widely to get the right skills together tailored to a specific project idea or research need. And it’s probably not always going to be limited to Leeds; it will mean strong collaborations with wherever the skills are, in the UK and internationally.”
If you would like to find out more about the work of Reimagine Ageing, please visit their website or email them via reimaginingageing@leeds.ac.uk.
