Today the Foundation is launching a new partnership with the Centre for Ageing Better which will explore how we can work together to help people deal with major life transitions. The partnership will test the effectiveness of well-known therapeutic approaches, such as mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy, with people preparing for retirement, as well as developing and trialling new methods of support.

The Centre for Ageing Better has found that more than a quarter (27%) of people aged over 50 say that they have a hard time making it through stressful events that happen in later life. In its major Later Life in 2015 study, Ageing Better found that while some people manage transitions (including retirement, poor health, bereavement) well, many feel lonely or socially isolated or experience a loss of meaning and purpose. It found that people’s attitudes and outlook were a major factor in how people were able to manage these changes.

The Foundation is supporting a cohort of eight projects and a number of other strategic initiatives both to develop and test different approaches to helping people cope with the retirement transition. The Centre for Ageing Better is supporting the evaluation of this work and the research underpinning it. It is also working with us to influence employers and business groups to scale the ideas that work in order to reach more people.

 Find out more about our work on Transitions in Later Life.