VULNERAGE - An interdisciplinary, international and participatory thematic Chair of the University of Lille, for a new approach of vulnerability and ageing.

Vulnerâge consortium was created in 2019 thanks to the association of researchers from several research units in the humanities and social sciences and in health sciences. Its objective was to combine their complementary skills to provide a common response to contemporary challenges that are 1) ageing and vulnerability of the elderly, and 2) the development of paradigms for understanding and caring for a vulnerable elderly population. In 2020, Vulnerâge became an interdisciplinary thematic Chair into the University of Lille, with two objectives: to become a nationally and internationally recognised centre of excellence on the issues of ageing, vulnerability and care; and to attract public and private partners to the "Care & Ageing" theme.

The interdisciplinary, international and participative Chair Vulnerâge of the University of Lille is jointly led by university hospital teams (ULR 2694 METRICS; U1167 RID-AGE), by the gerontology centre of the Lille University Hospital, by researchers specialised in the ethics of care and medical relations (UMR 8163 STL), in sociological approaches to life and ageing (ULR 3589 CeRIES) and in age-related cognitive and psychological changes (ULR 4072 PSITEC).

Vulnerâge performs research on the issues of all forms of vulnerability linked to ageing and on the management methods (in the sense of care) of these situations of vulnerability in our Western societies. This research has been developed both locally and internationally through the creation of the COVERAGE network.

The international COVERAGE Network, led by the Vulnerâge Chair, brings together researchers from five European universities: Univ RomaTre (Italy), UWroclaw (Poland), Babes Bolyai (Romania), UMinho (Portugal), MRU (Lithuania), and two Canadian universities: McGill University and Université de Montréal.

The diversity of the partners brought together in the framework of the Vulnerâge Chair and its international extension, COVERAGE Network, corresponds to the wide range of academic and societal competences required to respond strongly and effectively to the challenges linked to the problems of vulnerability related to ageing (at the individual and population levels) in our Western societies.

The Vulnerâge Chair mobilises several different methodological approaches, combining the classic quantitative approach in health science with qualitative approaches specific to sociology, ergonomics and philosophical reflection via the ethics of care. In order to approach the situations of vulnerability linked to ageing as closely as possible, the Vulnerâge Chair also adopts a participative and intersectoral approach, in order to co-construct with civil society stakeholders and representatives of the target population responses adapted to their care and support. To this end, a partnership with local associations (France Assos Santé and CIC Relais Autonomie - Lille) has also been formalised for the past two years.