CALL-ME project

Team

• Friederike Ziegler, Keele University

• Jan Bailey, Keele University

• Sharon Middling, Keele University

• Amanda Crummett, Field Worker

Partners and collaborators

• 'Valuing Older People' Team

• Manchester City Council and partner organisations

Aims and objectives

The aims of the project were

• to clarify the issues older people resident in disadvantaged communities themselves identify as important regarding social engagement and independence

• to assess the impact of different community initiatives on active ageing

• to identify the particular social and psychological processes involved in promoting active ageing through such community initiatives

• to develop policy recommendations for promoting active ageing in disadvantaged communities

Design

Approach

The study adopted a participatory action design. This involved a cycle of research, encompassing

• agenda setting (assessing community concerns, collecting basic data)

• planning (facilitating development of objectives, helping to develop an action plan)

• implementation (action coupled with monitoring the process, communicating information)

• outcome (assessing community competence, detecting community outcomes, developing new action plans)

The cycle of research and action were built around four different forms of community initiative. This maximised the opportunity to clarify the underlying processes involved in engaging with older people resident in disadvantaged areas and the particular character of different forms of social action.

Community initiatives

The types of community initiative have been chosen not only because they build on existing work within the study communities, but also because of their contrasting approaches to social engagement and their potential policy relevance.

The initiatives are

• a community welfare advice initiative

• a community arts initiative

• a community health technology initiative

• a community health initiative

Through comparative work the project explored the interconnection between the social and health aspects of wellbeing among groups of older people.

Setting

The research was based in multiply disadvantaged neighbourhoods in East Manchester. The city of Manchester represented an ideal setting for the study, given the presence of a variety of initiatives, which aimed to promote health and community wellbeing. However, these initiatives were often disconnected and had limited formal evaluation.

Participants

The project recruited around 200 people aged 60 and over from two East Manchester wards (encompassing four distinct neighbourhoods).

All participants were resident in their own homes, and were accessed through statutory and voluntary agencies operating in the area.

Initial study participants were encouraged to participate in further recruitment so that the study could engage with particularly isolated older people.

Procedure

Activity implementation

Each study area was initially assigned to a particular community initiative. In each area, the project began with a series of community meetings to explain the project and to involve residents in the further design of the project.

After clarifying the aims of the study, participants were invited to more formal group discussions. This gave participants the opportunity to detail their views and expectations of the project. Collection of both qualitative and quantitative data relating to participants’ quality of life, their social engagement, and community perceptions, occurred at the beginning and close of each community initiative.

Group discussions were audio- or video-recorded, and recordings were used at the close of each initiative as part of the review discussion.

Coordination

The project aimed to ensure community involvement in the design and implementation of the various initiatives. Each community established a local project committee that included members of the research team and older participants, and coordinated the local project.

During each project, there were opportunities for the committee and the wider community of older people to review the project’s progress.

Alongside an overall project coordinating committee, local project committees played a key role in ongoing data analysis. This process encouraged local communities to take ownership of the activity and of the research.