Profile

Simon Biggs

Professor of Gerontology & Social Policy

Bio

Simon Biggs is a Professor in Social Policy and Gerontology at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne. Formerly a community psychologist in mental health and adolescence, Simon was the Head of Policy Development, UK Social Work Education Council, Professor of Social Gerontology, Keele University, and visiting Research Fellow, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard University. Simon has participated in EC and Canadian government briefings on dignity in later life and elder protection, and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Ageing Societies, maintaining links with the University of Heidelberg, University College Dublin, National Centre for the Protection of Older People and Helsinki Department of Social Policy. Recent research includes the World Heath Organization’s ‘Age friendly cities’ project, ESRC study of baby boomers, uses of adaptive technology in later life, and the first national prevalence study of elder abuse and neglect in the United Kingdom.
Simon's written work extends to community care policies, technologies of self such as counselling and psychotherapy in later life, midlife and maturity, intergenerational relationships, spirituality and ageing, lifestyles and retirement communities, public policy toward old age, and social theory and ageing.