Findings

This research evaluated an innovative way of communicating and understanding the complexity of older people’s mobility problems using visualisations of objective dynamic movement data.

In previous research, a prototype software tool was created, which visualises, for non-biomechanical specialists and lay audiences, dynamic biomechanical data captured from older people undertaking activities of daily living.

From motion capture data and muscle strength measurements, a 3D animated human ‘stick figure’ was generated, on which the biomechanical demands of the activities were represented visually at the joints (represented as a percentage of maximum capability, using a continuous colour gradient from green at 0%, amber at 50% through to red at 100%).

The potential healthcare and design applications for the visualisations were evaluated through a series of interviews and focus groups with older people, and healthcare and design professionals, and through a specialist workshop for professionals.

Alastair Macdonald, The Glasgow School of Art; Catherine Docherty, Research Consultant, Journey; David Loudon, Research Assistant, The Glasgow School of Art

Innovation in envisioning dynamic biomechanical data (PDF, 649KB)

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Increasing numbers of older people, higher expectations for ‘a good life’, and demands for health and social care, have led to international interest in the enhancement, and measurement, of quality of life (QoL) in older age. QoL is a subjective concept, yet most measures of QoL are based on ‘expert’ opinions.

This study aimed to test a new measure of Older People’s QoL (OPQOL), which is unique in being derived from the views of older people who responded to an earlier survey, funded by the ESRC Growing Older Programme.

Here we report the final testing of the OPQOL, and compare it with two existing measures of QoL in older age: the CASP-19 and WHOQOL-OLD. Further aims included elicitation of perceptions of ‘active ageing’, and identification of predictors.

The study was based on over 1000 respondents to surveys of older people living at home in Britain:

• two waves of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Omnibus Surveys;

• two waves of the national Ethnibus Surveys;

• a postal follow-up of ONS Omnibus respondents aged 65+ in 1999-2000; 42 of the follow-up survey respondents were also interviewed in-depth.

Findings:

• Far more of the ethnically diverse, Ethnibus survey respondents had poor QoL than other respondents.

• The OPQOL had good reliability and validity in all three surveys.

• Baseline indicators of QoL were able to predict follow-up OPQOL scores in the QoL Survey follow-up sample.

• Respondents’ perceptions of active ageing were multi-faceted.

• Despite being more likely to be aged 65.

A Bowling, D Banister, P Stenner, H Titheridge, K Sproston, T McFarquhar

Quality of life in older age: Psychometric testing of the multidimensional Older People’s Quality of Life (OPQOL) questionnaire and the causal model under-pinning it (PDF, 469KB)

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A decline in health is often a major worry as people grow older. People fear not being able to look after themselves and being a burden onto others. Often a cause of this dependence is a decline in mobility.

This study aimed to examine mobility patterns in successfully ageing adults and to assess the relationship between mobility, health and lifestyle by examining the predictors and consequences of mobility.

The findings will help to determine interventions that could have an impact on maintenance of mobility, so that future generations can be informed of these interventions and encouraged to implement them.

The study also examined the utility and acceptability of mobility tracking technologies as healthcare interventions.

Lynn McInnes, Northumbria University

New metrics for exploring the relationship between mobility and successful ageing (PDF, 1.3 MB)

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Older people are increasingly experiencing environments that can be unfamiliar to them. This may be as a consequence of travelling as tourists to new areas; of urban regeneration; or as a result of cognitive decline, where the familiar becomes unfamiliar.

This research explored the experiences, mechanisms and strategies used by older people to navigate unfamiliar as well as familiar urban spaces.

Forty four participants who took part in a reality cave exercise, focus groups, a questionnaire and a sub group who visited an unfamiliar area as pedestrians describe their use of landmarks, signage and their experience of navigating an unfamiliar town centre.

Landmarks and distinctive buildings were more important than signage in navigating unfamiliar areas; however the meaning of space and memories attached to places was significant particularly in familiar spaces. Such experiences can contribute to policy and practice implications for planners in designing for an ageing population.

Judith Philips, Swansea University

Older people's use of unfamiliar space (OPUS) (PDF, 1003KB)

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Using the example of the metropolitan city of Chennai, India, the research examined the forces and processes shaping poverty and ageing in developing country cities under neoliberal policy regimes.

Comparing the circumstances of Chennai’s poor in 2007–2010 with that in 1990–1991, the research suggests that the neoliberal policy context exacerbated the difficulties of the poor and of the older poor in particular. It found that older people play a significant productive role in the urban economy but that this role is unrecognised by the state.

Instead of facilitating work in old age, or providing pensions for anything more than a minority of the older urban poor, state policies reflect the assumptions that older people are dependent and that families provide for their aged.

This approach does not take into account the impact of poverty, neoliberal policies and economic planning in constraining younger people’s capacity to provide or care for the aged; instead of ‘retiring’ from work, the urban poor are forced to work deep into old age, both to support themselves and to help out younger relatives.

They may do this through paid work or through unpaid work in a family business or by taking on the domestic and childcare work of younger women, thereby releasing younger women into the labour market.

The state’s failure to recognise older people’s contribution to the economy, their needs as workers and their rights as citizens constrains their productivity and wellbeing and has a knock-on effect on their families and the economy.

Penny Vera-Sanso, Birkbeck College

Ageing, poverty and neoliberalism in urban South India (PDF, 1.4MB)

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The study examines the wellbeing, livelihoods and social inclusion of older people in Brazil and South Africa with a view to throwing light on the linkages existing between ageing, wellbeing and development in developing countries.

The research focuses on the dynamics of wellbeing among lower-income households with older people in the two countries, and on the impact of social policies reaching older people. It provides a comparative study over time and across countries.

The main findings from the study are that, on average, levels of wellbeing experienced by older people in South Africa and Brazil have improved over time. Pension income, especially non-contributory pension income, remains essential to the wellbeing, livelihoods and economic inclusion of older people in the two countries.

The upward trend in wellbeing levels among older people nets out important changes at the household level over time. Between 2002 and 2008, some households exited poverty while others fell into poverty.

Armando Barrientos, University of Manchester, UK

Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, University of East Anglia, UK

João Saboia, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Valerie Møller, Rhodes University, South Africa

Julia Mase, University of Manchester, UK

Astrid Walker-Bourne, HelpAge International, UK

Ageing, wellbeing and development: A comparative study of Brazil and South Africa (PDF, 787KB)

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With substantial and increasing numbers of frail and cognitively impaired older people living in the community, there are growing challenges associated with money handling.

Financial abuse of people with dementia or declining cognitive and physical functioning is of growing concern. It is equally important to protect professionals and carers from unfair allegations of financial abuse, as it is to safeguard the assets of vulnerable older people.

The aim of this project was to examine real world judgment and decision making in relation to professional detection of elder financial abuse. The focus of the study was on professionals in social care, health and banking. Study participants took part in interviews, as well as judging case scenarios. Policy documents were analysed to explore how suspected abuse was defined and managed within local authority, NHS, and banking procedures.

Grant holders

Mary Gilhooly, Brunel University

Priscilla Harries, Brunel University

Ken Gilhooly, University of Hertfordshire

Catherine Hennessy, University of Plymouth

Tony Gilbert, University of Plymouth

David Stanley, Northumbria University

Bridget Penhale, University of East Anglia

Research staff

Deborah Cairns, Brunel Institute for Ageing Studies

Miranda Davies, Brunel Institute for Ageing Studies

Libby Notley, Brunel Institute for Ageing Studies

Decision making in detecting and preventing financial abuse (PDF, 1.1MB)

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Dignity is a complex concept, understood in different ways and often most clearly when under threat. In later life health problems can be complex and life-threatening and lead to a loss of independence, identity and dignity.

In these circumstances the support and care of others becomes crucial, increasingly so towards the end of life. This study explored the experiences of 34 older people whose health problems created a need for support and care.

We asked them about the changes occurring in their everyday lives and whether they felt the help they received promoted or undermined their dignity. Their accounts highlight the ways in which older people adapt to a growing need for help whilst also striving to maintain their independence.

By focusing exclusively on their experiences and perspectives this study contributes to a fuller understanding of this final stage of the life course and how dignity can be maintained.

Dr Liz Lloyd, University of Bristol

Professor Micahel Calnan, University of Kent

Ailsa Cameron, University of Bristol

Professor Jane Seymour, University of Nottingham

Professor Randall Smith, University of Bristol

Dr Kate White, University of Bristol

Maintaining Dignity in Later Life (PDF, 973KB)

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Key findings:

• Measures of well being were consistently higher amongst the music participants (n=398) than amongst the comparison group (n=102);

• There was some positive change over time on quality of life measures, for those involved in musical activities;

• Participants reported social, cognitive, emotional and health benefits of participation in music;

• Some barriers to participation were identified, relating to access to information, structural, dispositional and social issues;

• Facilitators of musical activities with older people had specific training needs but few opportunities for CPD;

• Facilitators played a key role in fostering positive outcomes.

Susan Hallam (PI), Institute of Education

Andrea Creech, Institute of Education

Helena Gaunt, Institute of Education

Anita Pincas, Institute of Education

Maria Varvarigou, Institute of Education

Hilary McQueen, Institute of Education

Music for Life (PDF, 1.2MB)

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Key findings:

• Women in their 50s–60s felt more pressure from media and advertising imagery compared with participants in their 80–90s.

• 88% of visitors to the project exhibitions wanted to see more images of older women, like those created through the project, displayed in public.

• Participants captured various experiences from continued public involvement, friendships and fun to fears of increasing limitations and invisibility. Images challenged stereotypes such as the ‘grumpy old woman’ and reflected rarely represented grief and loss.

• Participants wanted to see more images of ‘ordinary’ older women who were still ‘making a contribution’.

• Images produced by participants showed that women experience ageing at the site of the body, for example in the form of wrinkles and greying hair.

• Participatory visual methods gave women a sense of solidarity and ownership of the research process, impacting on well-being and a feeling of public validation.

Lorna Warren (PI), the University of Sheffield

Merryn Gott, University of Auckland

Susan Hogan, University of Derby

Representing Self-Representing Ageing. Look at Me! Images of Women and Ageing (PDF, 411KB)

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Sleep is central to health and wellbeing, yet sleep can deteriorate with advancing age.

Good sleep is a pre-requisite for older people’s wellbeing and ability to engage fully in daytime activities, whether living in their own homes or in a care home.

Chronic health problems and pain in later life reduce the quality of night-time sleep. Among older people, untreated chronic sleep disturbance degrades their quality of life, inhibits recovery and rehabilitation following illness, and is an independent risk factor for falls.

The aims of the project were to

• understand the meanings and determinants of poor quality sleep among older people in the community and in care homes – by assessing social, psychological and environmental factors, medication use and health status, and identifying potential solutions

• develop a cost-effective approach to non-pharmacological self-management of insomnia among older people with chronic disease

• develop and evaluate ‘blue-enriched’ light in improving sleep of older people in the community and in care homes

• develop sensor-based products for frail older people at home and in care homes

• disseminate web-based, user-friendly, information and advice.

Sara Arber, University of Surrey

David Armstrong, King’s College London

Ingrid Eyers, University of Surrey/University of Vechta, Germany

Kevin Morgan, Loughborough University

Roger Orpwood, Bath University

Debra J. Skene, University of Surrey

SomnIA – Optimising quality of sleep among older people in the community and care homes: An integrated approach (PDF, 3.7MB)

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The overall aim of the TACT3 project was to reduce the impact of continence difficulties for older people.

In a world where we experience ever decreasing levels of social inhibition, continence problems remain taboo. As people age, they typically become less mobile and/or need more frequent ‘comfort breaks’ so maintaining continence becomes a challenge.

The impact of continence difficulties is far more than just the physical effort and expense of continence management; the problem is strongly associated with reduced self-esteem, social isolation and depression. Moreover, one of the major reasons that people move into residential care is an inability to cope with their continence needs.

Project team

Eleanor van den Heuvel,

Mary Gilhooly

Ian Sutherland

Felicity Jowitt

Kevin McKee

Lena Dahlberg

Stuart Parker

Patrick Gaydecki

Norman Ratcliffe

Jo-Anne Bichard

Adele Long

Nikki Cotterill

Susie Orme

Tackling ageing continence through theory, tools and technology (TACT3) (PDF, 585KB)

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For people of all ages the kitchen can be the hub of the home and a centre of person-environment interaction.

The overall aim was to investigate the experience of the kitchen for people currently in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s living in a variety of mainstream and supportive housing in England. The research was both collaborative and multidisciplinary, involving social gerontologists from the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University and ergonomists at Loughborough University’s Design School.

Project team

Sheila Peace (PI)

John Percival

Martin Maguire

Colette Nicolle

Russ Marshall

Ruth Sims

Clare Lawton

Transitions in Kitchen Living (PDF, 546KB)

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Projection models of the older population, their resources and needs in decades to come are required to provide indications of future demand and inform long-term care and pensions policy.

The research project ‘Modelling Needs and Resources of Older People to 2030 (MAP2030)’ developed a set of projection models to estimate future numbers of older people, and their family circumstances, income, pensions, savings, disability, and formal and informal care needs.

It produced compatible projections of public and private expenditure on pensions, disability benefits and care services under different reform scenarios for pensions and long-term care funding under a range of alternative population futures that continue to contribute to on-going policy debate.

M Murphy (London School of Economics and Political Science)

E Grundy (University of Cambridge)

R Hancock (University of East Anglia)

RD Wittenberg (London School of Economics and Political Science)

A Comas-Herrera(London School of Economics and Political Science)

LM Pickard (London School of Economics and Political Science)

JEB Lindesay(University of Leicester)

C Curry (Pensions Policy Institute)

JN Malley (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Modelling Ageing Populations to 2030 (MAP2030) (PDF, 1.3MB)

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Ages and Stages is a collaboration between Keele University and the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Between October 2009 and July 2012, we explored historical representations of ageing within the Vic’s social documentaries and interviewed 95 older people who have been involved with the theatre as volunteers, actors and employees, audience members, and sources for the documentaries.

The research was drawn together to create a new piece of documentary drama called Our Age, Our Stage and the associated Ages and Stages Exhibition.

Project team

Miriam Bernard, Keele University

David Amigoni, Keele University

Lucy Munro, Keele University

Michael Murray, Keele University

Jill Rezzano, New Vic Theatre

Michelle Rickett, Research Associate

Ruth Basten, PhD student

Tracey Harrison, Administrator

Ages and Stages: the place of theatre in representations and recollections of ageing (PDF, 1.2MB)

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The project sought to answer the question, how can new interactive digital technologies be used to increase older peoples’ engagement with the communities and younger people around them?

Peter Wright, University of Newcastle

Landscapes of cross-generational engagement (PDF, 551KB)

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MINA was a three year NDA research project which addressed ageing, migration, and nutrition across two generations of Bangladeshi women.

The Bangladeshi population is one of the fastest growing ethnic groups within the UK, and are amongst the most socially disadvantaged. They have poorer self-reported and measured health status indicated by higher rates of disability, centralised obesity and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Older Bangladeshi women are particularly affected as they play a lead role in caretaking for multiple generations within relatively large extended families and many struggle to cope with the complex challenges of ageing, poverty, racism, and social exclusion.

Janice L. Thompson, University of Birmingham

Migration, Nutrition and Ageing across the lifecourse in Bangladeshi families: a transnational perspective (MINA) (PDF, 6.7MB)

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CALL-ME was a growing body of research highlighting the challenges faced by older people in disadvantaged urban communities. This group may experience a variety of risks associated with ill health, poverty, social isolation and loneliness, vulnerability to crime, and a lack of opportunities to engage in local and national decision-making processes.

In contrast to a growing evidence base highlighting the challenges faced by older people in disadvantaged communities, there is limited work that explores how new initiatives can begin to address such groups’ concerns and to clarify the issues involved in promoting independence and social engagement or active ageing.

This project sought to move away from an assessment of the problems associated with ageing in socially deprived communities towards a new focus on the ways in which community action by older people can contribute to active ageing in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods.

Michael Murray, Keele University

Call-Me: Promoting independence and social engagement among older people in disadvantaged communities (PDF, 1.2MB)

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This project studied the age-related alterations that occur in the cardiovascular system – the heart, lungs and network of arteries and veins that carry oxygenated blood and nutrients to every cell of the body and remove the waste products of metabolism.

It was already known that the phase of breathing affects the rate at which the heart beats, but that this effect decreases as we age. The research has associated this reduction in heart-lung interaction with changes in the endothelium, the inner lining of all the blood vessels. It involved making non-invasive measurements of blood flow in the skin of 200 healthy subjects of all ages. The analysis focused on very low frequency oscillations in blood flow that can give a measure of the state of the endothelium.

Aneta Stefanoska, Lancaster University

Dynamics of cardiovascular ageing (PDF, 1.6MB)

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The aim of this cross-disciplinary collaboration was to bring ‘smart’ clothing, (modern functional textiles with assistive wearable technologies) to enhance wellbeing within the everyday lives of this market-neglected, rapidly growing ‘Active Ageing’ community.

The focus was to develop a clothing ‘layering system’ for participation in walking comprising; close-fitting base-layer garments, with vital signs and activity monitoring, mid-layer insulating garments, with warming devices, and outer protective wear, providing multiple user interfaces.

Jane McCann, University of South Wales

Design for Ageing Well (PDF, 4.2MB)

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Ageing is a process that occurs on many scales: Time scales, ranging from the millisecond rate of DNA transcription and duplication, to the megayear rate of evolution; and size scales, from molecules through cells, tissues, organs, organisms, and populations.

This project has been directed to

• developing statistical and mathematical techniques to bridge the gaps between some of these scales, combining instantaneous behaviour measures in flies with survival information to understand the trajectories of senescence

• combining age-specific survival and reproductive success for wild populations with random environmental change and evolutionary tends

• exploring the link between models of organism vitality as it develops over a lifetime and the “plateaux” in mortality rate that are seen in the oldest old across a wide range of species, where the increasing frailty with age seems to slow down or even stop.

David Steinsaltz, University of Oxford

Trajectories of senescence through Markov models (PDF, 768KB)

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By 2020, over a third of the UK workforce will be aged over 50. It is now essential to facilitate extended working lives by promoting health in the workplace.

Working Late investigated the policy issues associated with later life working and developed interventions and design solutions to promote health, productivity and quality of working life of older people.

The research involved a mixed methods approach comprising: focus groups, interviews, surveys and interventions.

The project was underpinned by user engagement involving agencies, employers and older workers to guide the research process.

Cheryl Haslam, Loughborough University

Working Late (PDF, 1MB)

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The aim of the project was to examine the period immediately before the State Pension Age (SPA) which, for individuals, is a time of important changes and choices. Of particular interest were labour force participation, informal caring and health and whether these vary between countries with different welfare state regimes.

The project had three research questions:

1. How have pre-SPA labour force participation and health changed during recent decades?

2. How does the pre-SPA combination of paid employment and informal caring relate to health in terms of health selection, health associationsand health sequelae?

3. Does the wider social context affect the relationships in Research Question 1?

David Blane, Imperial College London

Transitions, choices and health in early old age: analyses of longitudinal data (PDF, 2.8MB)

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For the majority of older people in the UK old age is a positive experience in health terms. However for many, good health can be lost rapidly resulting in poor physical or mental health.

Falls represent a major cause of ill health and loss of independence in older people. Furthermore, mortality associated with hip-fracture, a frequent consequence of falls, is very high, with one in five patients dying within a year of their hip-fracture.

Janet Lord, The University of Birmingham

Synergistic Effects of Physical and Psychological Stress upon Immunesenescence (PDF, 5.2MB)

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Over the next 20 years the proportion of older people living within Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities in the UK will significantly increase. However, there is limited empirical evidence about the lived experiences, social networks and family lives of people growing older within these transnational communities. In particular, we understand little about the interconnections between gender, ethnicity, ‘place’ and ageing.

Christina Victor, Brunel University

Families and Caring in South Asian Communities (PDF, 883KB)

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This study aimed to understand how the lives of older people can be improved by examining their use of contemporary visual art for identity construction practices.

Contemporary visual art is being used because its often contested nature gives it particular power to prompt people to engage in identity construction processes through their imaginative and/or critical responses to it.

Andrew Newman and Anna Goulding, Newcastle University

Contemporary Visual Art and Identity Construction - Wellbeing Amongst Older People (PDF, 1.5MB)

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This collaborative research project explored and examined the relationship between the dynamics of ageing and the dynamics of digital ICTs, in order to better understand how ICT can support or enrich quality of life and autonomy of older people as they age.

It is known that digital ICTs have the potential to support older people to live independently, promote social inclusion or facilitate access to commercial or government services. However, as people age they often experience decline in their physical or cognitive abilities which can make it difficult to continue use of, or keep up with, digital tools and services.

The resulting disengagement from the digital world can constitute a significant reduction in quality of life for some older people.

Leela Damodaran and Wendy Olphert, Loughborough University

Sustaining IT use by older people to promote autonomy and independence (Sus-IT) (PDF, 3.5MB)

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Since 1945, the field of fiction has been notable for the scale of its resistance to reductive, one-dimensional narratives and images of ageing which have dominated other forms of mass media.

Older writers, older readers and the subject of ageing continue to retain important and privileged positions within the fiction industry.

Building on the cultural turn in social gerontology, ‘Fiction and the Cultural Mediation of Ageing’ systematically researched how older people, both as authors and readers, engage with representations of ageing.

By focusing on the role this interaction plays in the shaping of self-image and social attitudes, the project team produced an integrated analysis which fed into direct public policy recommendations.

Philip Tew, Brunel University

Fiction and the Cultural Mediation of Ageing: The Importance of Reshaping the Narrative of Ageing (PDF, 2.3MB)

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mappmal was a three year NDA multidisciplinary research project with the aim of addressing the problem on malnutrition in older patients by exploiting new and existing technologies to rethink.

It tested new ways that food can be produced and delivered to older patients using a ‘a joined-up’ approach that considered all stages of the food journey, from production to consumption (ie products, people, places and procedures).

The overall research question was therefore ‘Can new products, partnerships, service models and enhanced eating experiences and environments from food production to patient consumption prevent malnutrition in older patients?’

Paula Moynihan, Newcastle University

Mappmal: a multidisciplinary approach to developing a prototype for food provision and nutritional management of older hospital patients (PDF, 4.1MB)

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The study focused on the quality of life of older people in rural areas by analysing the extent of their involvement in their communities, leisure patterns and cultural interests. It also addressed the barriers and opportunities for participation that they experience and their attitudes to the countryside as a social, cultural and environmental space.

The aim of this research programme was to investigate the circumstances, experiences and quality of life impact of older people’s connectivity in civic society in rural areas.

The research was carried out in rural settings in South West England which has the most ageing population structure of all regions in England and in rural Wales which is experiencing similar demographic trends.

Catherine Hennessy, Plymouth University

Grey and Pleasant Land?: An interdisciplinary exploration of the connectivity of older people in rural civic society (PDF, 2.6MB)

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The majority of falls in the elderly occur during stair descent. Several functional parameters, including muscle strength, joint mobility and our sense of balance, may be involved, all of which deteriorate with age.

The aim of this programme was to understand the role played in stepping performance by musculoskeletal and sensory functions and their deterioration with ageing and to find ways of improving the ability of older people to descend stairs.

Costis Maganaris, Liverpool John Moores University

Biomechanical and sensory constraints of step and stair negotiation in old age (PDF, 2.7MB)

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Towards understanding the biological drivers of cell ageing (PDF, 801KB)

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HALCyon - Healthy Ageing across the Life Course: Capitalising on the value of UK life course cohorts (PDF, 2.4MB)

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NANA: Novel Assessment of Nutrition and Ageing (PDF, 579KB)

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A combined genetic and small molecule approach to studying the role of the p38/MK2 stress signalling pathway in a human premature ageing syndrome (PDF, 1.3MB)

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