Led by Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and
Health in partnership with Years Ahead, the North East Regional Forum on Ageing,
the fact-finding visit will look at older people’s experience of shopping
and how it can be made easier and more accessible.
The group will study both the actual design of a supermarket
and the services it offers to shoppers and then feedback to University researchers.
They will visit a Kaiser supermarket in Berlin which has led the way in developing
a store specifically aimed at older people and talk with senior managers there
about the benefits of this approach.
Findings from the visit are of particular interest to Tesco
who have submitted a planning application to develop a supermarket within the
Campus for Ageing & Vitality on the former Newcastle General Hospital site,
where the Institute is already conducting world-leading research on ageing and
health. The proposed mixed use of the Campus for research, commercial and retail
use will provide a unique opportunity to study an everyday activity which has
important implications for healthy living.
The Institute for Ageing and Health hopes this is the first
step towards research looking at the ways in which older people shop and what
they buy, giving scientists a better understanding of the relationships between
nutrition and shopping behaviour and how more effectively to promote a healthy
diet.
Leading the group visit, Professor Jim Edwardson, Chair of Years
Ahead said, “This will be an exciting opportunity to find out how supermarket
shopping can be improved, not just for older people but for many others who
could benefit. Retailers need to address the needs of an ageing population and
the opportunities to support healthy lifestyles and independence – not
just in relation to nutrition but across a wide range of other services that
supermarkets increasingly provide.”
“The visit to Berlin will be of particular interest to
our Older Person-Friendly City Group”, said Bob Weiner, Secretary of Newcastle
Elders Council and a member of the delegation. “Much more needs to be
done before shopping can be described as age-friendly” he claimed.
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/
Home
