About PRIAE

PRIAE is a leading Institute working in the area of ageing and ethnicity in the UK and across Europe. As the only organisation specialising in helping black and minority ethnic (BME) elders, PRIAE occupies a unique position and plays an essential role in policy, research, information and practice on:

• Employment and income;
• Health, social care and housing;
• Pensions; and
• Quality of life

PRIAE works with BME elders and age organisations, policy makers, research bodies, healthcare providers and the voluntary sector to produce ground-breaking work.

Based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, PRIAE is an international self-governing charitable institute with partners across Europe.

Background

PRIAE was founded in 1998 by Professor Naina Patel OBE who recognised the need for a dedicated organisation that focused and concentrated on the various issues faced by black and minority ethnic elders and their organisations amid increasing population change and slow policy and practice developments. Naina built PRIAE up with zero finance and with support from a distinguished Management Board, chaired by Lord Herman Ouseley and Vice Chair Lord Navnit Dholakia, other trustees, and, later, staff when funds were secured in 2001, to the international organisation it is today. PRIAE has its first patron, Dr Chai Patel, CBE, FRCP.

Key Aims and Objectives

• To represent BME elders’ issues through engagement, information, support, development and managing change in the areas of PRIAE’s scope;
• To strengthen the BME age sector to support BME elders and organisations that are critical to them;
• To engage with an array of stakeholders, including BME communities and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);
• To promote good practice in work with BME elders.

To achieve these aims PRIAE uses a cross-section of activities, including research, engagement with BME elders and organisations, training and consultancy, provision of information and development services, to address a diverse range of issues relating to ageing and ethnicity as well as ethnicity, employment and enterprise, across all ages.

Benefits of PRIAE’s activities

PRIAE does more than raise awareness of BME elders’ issues: the Institute works actively through first of its kind work in health, social care, housing, employment, pensions and benefits, through both research and tangible information and development initiatives which offer solutions to problems faced by today’s ethnic elders and those of future generations, rather than just highlighting their needs.

It contributes to key policy developments that positively affect ethnic minority communities and produces important publications, materials and resources.

PRIAE’s trail-blazing research leads to recommendations for strategic actions that will improve the quality of life BME people, now and in years to come. Its work in health, social care, engagement with BME elders and organisations, housing and recently in employment, is highly commended by policymakers and practitioners alike.

PRIAE is credited for having ‘established’ the area of ageing and ethnicity as a major concern in policy, research and information across sectors that affect BME elders’ lives.