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Past, Present and Future: 200 years of health and wellbeing and where we are going
16 April 2026
As part of the UCL200 celebrations, Workplace Health are excited to announce, we are running our first ever symposium!
Taking place during Mental Health Awareness Week, the symposium will bring together leading academic voices and professional services colleagues from across UCL.
Founded on the principle that educational barriers are meant to be broken down, UCL has spent 200 years challenging convention and driving progress. Innovative and dynamic, the university continues to expand the boundaries of knowledge and impact.
The symposium will consider how health and wellbeing has been understood over the past two centuries, while also looking ahead to the changing demands on health and wellbeing.
This is a free event
Symposium details:
- Date: 14 May 2026
- Location: LT1, Cruciform Building
- Time: 9.00 am – 4.00pm
- Morning tea and lunch provided
Register to secure your seat for the symposium
Programme for the Symposium
Keynote address
Professor George Ploubidis (Social Research Institute): Living Longer but Not Healthier: The Generational Health Drift
- Health is no longer improving across generations
Despite longer life expectancy, newer generations are not consistently healthier than previous ones at the same age. The Generational Health Drift challenges the long-held assumption that health improves steadily over time.
- Implications for work and the labour market
If younger generations experience poorer health earlier in life, this could reduce labour market participation, limit productivity, and increase pressure on employers and policymakers to support a healthier, longer working population.
Talks delivered by UCL academics
Professor Yang Hu (Social Research Institute) discussing:
The implications of digitalisation and AI (artificial intelligence) for work, family life and inequalities
Professor Aimee Spector (Clinical Education and Health Psychology) discussing:
The impact of the menopause transition on cognition and mental health
Professor Angel Chater (Clinical Education and Health Psychology) discussing:
The interplay between health psychology and public health.
Panel discussion
Chaired by Professor Jo Billings (Epidemiology & Applied Clinical Research)
Theme: Whether mental health and wellbeing are worsening, or whether improvements in recognition and diagnosis explain rising rates
Register to secure your seat for the symposium
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