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Committing to better inclusion of older adults in health research
A joint statement has been signed by over 40 UK health funders and charities, including UKRI, to improve understanding of disease and develop better health interventions.
The joint statement sets out a shared commitment to:
- actively support the inclusion of older adults in research
- challenge unjustified exclusion, particularly where older adults have complex health conditions
- ensure that research is designed with equity in mind and better reflects the diversity of the UK
The statement builds on the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report on healthy ageing, which highlighted that older people are routinely underrepresented in clinical trials and research studies.
Further information is available on the UKRI website.
 Breaking barriers: making brain research more inclusive
Brain research and neurotechnologies are transforming healthcare, from understanding how the brain works to developing new treatments for conditions like stroke and epilepsy. But these technologies don’t always work equally well for everyone.
Biological and phenotypic factors - such as hair type, skin tone, head size, skull thickness, and hormonal differences - can all influence how well neurotechnologies capture brain signals. This means that if research excludes people from diverse backgrounds, the results may not be reliable or beneficial for all communities.
Despite this, participants from minority populations remain critically underrepresented in UK neurotechnology studies. A University of Sheffield-led project, funded by the UKRI Neuromod+ Network, set out to change this.
In collaboration with the Israac Community Centre in Sheffield, researchers co-designed interactive workshops to explore how communities engage with brain research. Shaped around cultural needs, these sessions built trust, improved understanding, and revealed practical barriers and solutions - leading to recommendations for more inclusive study designs and even a prototype EEG electrode.
The project was a joint effort between the University of Sheffield (led by Dr Mahnaz Arvaneh and Dr Dan Blackburn) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative (led by Lise Sproson). It highlights the value of working directly with communities to build trust, raise awareness, and adapt research tools that make participation easier and more representative.
To share the outcomes, the team created a short YouTube video, designed to raise awareness among both researchers and communities about the importance of diversity in brain research.
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