Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has taken recent steps to commission research into (a) reducing ill health and (b) retaining (i) physical function and (ii) mental capacity by older people.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR’s Healthy Ageing Policy Research Unit, which started in January 2024, undertakes research related to the health and wellbeing of older adults. This includes ongoing research to examine effective interventions that prevent or postpone the development of physical or mental disability related to long-term conditions.