News : Funding for major study on ageing in rural Britain
29 October 2008
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Investigating how older people living in rural South West England and Wales interact with their local community, and what social and economic issues are important to them |
Bournemouth University’s Centre for Qualitative Research has secured more than £400, 0000 in funding to take part in the UK’s largest study of the quality of life of older people.
Starting in September, BU academics will work with colleagues from Plymouth, University of West of England and Cardiff Universities to investigate how older people living in rural South West England and Wales interact with their local community, and what social and economic issues are important to them. Entitled Grey and Pleasant Land?: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Connectivity of Older People in Rural Civic Society, the three-year study is one of a number being undertaken under the ‘New Dynamics of Ageing’ programme. This seven-year research initiative is a unique collaboration between five UK Research Councils - ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC - and is the largest and most ambitious research programme on ageing ever mounted in the UK.
Professor Kathleen Galvin, Deputy Dean of BU’s School of Health & Social Care, where the Centre for Qualitative Research is based, said: “We are pleased to be involved in such a large-scale initiative, a first for Bournemouth. This collaborative grant ensures that the issues important to older people living in rural areas are no longer overlooked. The South West and Wales will be at the forefront of exploring the social and economic issues of this group for the nation, Europe and beyond”.
Professor Les Todres, Director of the Centre for Qualitative Research, added: “One of the issues we want to address is how to increase the range of options for older people to engage and, in turn, improve their wellbeing, which has up to now, been narrowly defined and biased towards younger people in rural areas.”
Dr Kip Jones, Reader in Qualitative Research at the Centre for Qualitative Research and The Media School, will lead projects valued at nearly £360, 0000 to examine perceptions of rural living among older residents, particularly those who feel disengaged. These studies will use qualitative and arts-based methods to increase our understanding of the lives of older people in remote rural areas. Outcomes will demonstrate how film and performance can connect citizens through audience participation.
A Bournemouth team will listen to the life stories of gay and lesbian older adults living in rural South West England or Wales. Citizen panels will then create a script based upon the stories for a widely distributed, professional film. Dr Jones explained: “Gay and lesbian older adults too often are invisible; combined with rural living, these individuals are particularly vulnerable to isolation”.
In a second BU project receiving approximately £75, 0000 in funding from the Research Councils, Professors Kathleen Galvin and Les Todres will work with Professor Graham Parkhurst from the University of West England to explore with older people their mobility and physical activity and determine how this has an impact on their quality of life. The Centre for Qualitative Research is based at BU’s School of Health & Social Care, Professor Gail Thomas, Dean. It’s staff has considerable expertise in research approaches and programmes that aim to improve the everyday lives of health and social care users.
Centre for Qualitative Research
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