How can we develop evidence‑based and cost‑effective ways to strengthen older adults' resilience and mental wellbeing? With just over 1 million euros from the Strategic Research Council, Åbo Akademi University will, over an initial period of three years, examine social, health‑related, psychological and biological factors that promote resilience, with a particular focus on loneliness, stress and health.
In total, the RES‑AGE project consortium has been awarded approximately 3 million euros in grants. Åbo Akademi University's part of the project will address inequalities linked to language, culture and regional contexts. The research will draw, among other things, on data from the gerontological regional database (GERDA), a long‑standing Nordic research collaboration on the living conditions and health of older people.
The work at Åbo Akademi University will also include mapping proteins, so‑called proteomic profiling. Together with longitudinal lifestyle data, proteins can be used to identify early biomarkers that can guide lifestyle choices and promote healthy aging. This work will be carried out by Eleanor Coffey's research group in Åbo Akademi University's joint technology unit and the University of Turku's Turku Bioscience Centre.
"By emphasising prevention and behavior‑oriented lifestyle components, RES‑AGE aims to promote more equitable mental health, postpone care needs, and offer cost‑effective solutions," says Fredrica Nyqvist, Professor of Gerontological Care at Åbo Akademi University, who leads the RES‑AGE research consortium.
RES‑AGE will use extensive register, intervention and cohort data, along with interviews and biomarker analyses. These methods will be combined with advanced statistical and qualitative approaches as well as calculations of care‑consumption costs.
The project brings together researchers from several faculties and disciplines at Åbo Akademi University including health sciences, social policy, neuroscience, psychology and economics, who will contribute complementary perspectives on resilience, mental health and aging. The consortium also includes Tampere University, the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyväskylä. The Age Institute is responsible for the project's implementation and societal impact. The project begins in October and will run until 2032.
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