Learn how King’s MSc in Health and Care Strategies for Ageing Populations empowers professionals to lead change, improve policy, and enhance quality of life for older people.
As populations age worldwide, health and care systems must adapt to increasingly complex and long-term needs. This programme equips future leaders with the insight and practical skills to design, deliver and influence better care for older people.
The world’s population is ageing at an unprecedented pace. More people are living longer, and many are living with multiple health conditions that affect their quality of life over time. This shift is reshaping the demands placed on health and social care systems worldwide.
Services must now be designed to adapt to changing needs over years or even decades. They need to be coordinated across different settings and services — from home and community-based support, to acute hospital, to long-term care and palliative care. Just as importantly, policy must evolve to address issues like workforce capacity, funding, and the societal impact of these demographic changes.
The King’s online MSc in Health and Care Strategies for Ageing Populations responds directly to these challenges. It equips students with the knowledge, critical thinking skills and practical tools needed to shape future services, influence policy and improve quality of life for older people at local, national and global levels.
This MSc is designed for those who want to lead change in how ageing populations are supported. It encompasses the ageing journey of supporting well and living well to dying well. It achieves this by providing an in-depth understanding of the interactions between health and social care services, including rehabilitation and palliative care throughout
The programme focuses on how to generate, evaluate and apply research to strengthen health and care systems. You’ll learn how to integrate evidence into practice, ensuring care models are both effective and sustainable. There is an emphasis on adapting solutions to suit your own context, whether you work in a care home, a hospital, a community service or a policy setting.
Crucially, the MSc helps you think critically about existing systems and the evidence that underpins them. You’ll explore what research tells us, where the gaps are, and how to address those gaps through innovation and collaboration.
The MSc takes a holistic approach. Learning begins at the stage where individuals may require support in their daily lives, focusing on optimal management of chronic conditions with early intervention to prevent complications and rehabilitation to support and maintain independence.
From there, you’ll explore care strategies for those living with progressive illness or age-related decline, including rehabilitation, symptom management and long-term support. Palliative care is also a focus, ensuring students understand provision of person-centred holistic care that puts the person before their disease, and how to support individuals and families with dignity, compassion and respect.
The programme addresses common conditions such as dementia, as well as more complex, multi-condition cases where frailty plays a role. In all cases, the emphasis is on maintaining independence and quality of life. Even small improvements — such as enabling someone to drink unaided or transfer from a chair with minimal assistance — can make a significant difference to both the individual and their carers.
International perspectives are woven into the learning experience. The curriculum includes case studies from different regions, showcasing examples of care models, service innovations and policy reforms from around the world.
By analysing how different systems approach the challenges of ageing, you’ll gain insights that can be adapted to your own work. These examples also highlight the importance of cultural, economic and political context in shaping care strategies.
The programme starts with a research methods and evaluation module, building a strong foundation in how to design, test and implement evidence-based solutions. It concludes with a dissertation project, where you will undertake original research — either within your own professional environment or in collaboration with King’s ongoing work in ageing, rehabilitation and palliative care.
One of the programme’s greatest strengths is the diversity of its participants. Students come from across the globe, representing professions in healthcare, social care, policy, research and service management. This diversity creates a rich environment for exchanging ideas, challenging assumptions and developing well-rounded solutions.
The teaching team also reflects this interdisciplinary approach, drawing on expertise from multiple disciplines to provide a comprehensive view of ageing care. This structure allows students to see challenges through different professional lenses, enhancing their ability to collaborate and innovate in real-world settings.
From the outset, you’ll be encouraged to apply your learning directly to your own professional or community context. Assignments are designed to be practical and relevant, such as developing a business case for a new service, creating an assessment plan for an older adult with a specific condition, or mapping out a strategy to improve a local care pathway.
The final dissertation is an opportunity to address a meaningful challenge in your field. You might investigate a service gap in your organisation, test a new intervention in your community, or contribute to research at King’s. In every case, the focus is on producing work that has real-world impact.
What makes the Health and Care Strategies for Ageing Populations MSc distinctive is its combination of global outlook, interdisciplinary learning and applied research. The programme not only equips you with academic knowledge but also gives you the confidence to influence change in complex systems.
Whether you aim to advance in your current role, move into leadership, or transition into policy or research, the skills you develop here will be directly relevant. The networks you build — with peers, academics and professionals worldwide — will continue to support your career long after you graduate.
Discover how this programme can equip you to shape the future of elderly care and make a lasting difference: