Waikato District Health Board has opened the country's first Institute of Healthy Ageing to promote research into improving the quality of life of older people.
The institute is a joint collaboration with the universities of Waikato and Auckland and will cover areas such as mental health, older people in the community and best practice in clinical care.
It will link research carried out in New Zealand and overseas.
The proportion of people in New Zealand aged over 65 is projected to grow to 21% of the population by 2023.
