Medicine for an ageing population: where art and science meet

We are living longer lives, but how do we live well to the end? In this talk we will consider the taboo questions of ageing. We’ll look at Plan A – stay young forever, but also at Plan B – the things we can do as individuals, as healthcare professionals, and as a society that will help older people avoid the harms inherent in modern medical systems. Statins, gin, resus - I’ll explain how patients and medics can work together to share complicated decisions and structure our care around what matters to each individual. It’s unwise to develop a prejudice against our future selves!

The changes we make now will define how older people are treated today and how we ourselves are treated in old age – we are all the ageing population.