Photo-interviews about health by older adults with a low socio-economic status

Met behulp van de foto-elicitatiemethode hebben wij, de drie auteurs van dit artikel, onderzoek gedaan naar de gezondheidspercepties van ouderen met een lage sociaaleconomische status (SES). Foto-elicitatie maakt gebruik van foto’s in kwalitatieve interviews om deelnemers aan te moedigen na te denken over een bepaald onderwerp. Het voordeel hiervan is dat foto’s – waarschijnlijk meer dan geschreven woorden – emoties, reflecties, percepties en associaties opwekken. Daarnaast is er geen hoge geletterdheid voor nodig. Naast de bevindingen van ditonderzoek bespreken we de uitdagingen van foto-elicitatie-onderzoek

Community Wise—effects and participant perceptions of a community- based -positive health intervention for older inhabitants of low SES neighbourhoods:a mixed-methods approach

Background: The Community Wise (CW) intervention applies a community-based approach to improve the physical fitness, self-management ability, loneliness, social cohesion, and well-being of older adults living in neighbourhoods characterized by lower socioeconomic status (SES).Methods: Participants (N = 108) were recruited using several strategies, including door-to-door visits and community key peers. The study was based on a pre-test/post-test design. Outcomes were assessed through mixed methods using questionnaires, performance tests, semi-structured interviews, and focus-group sessions.Results: Results showed significant improvements on aerobic endurance and shoulder flexibility, but no significant improvements on self-management ability, social cohesion, loneliness, or well-being. Qualitative data analysis did indicate that participants experienced improvements on social connectedness with members of the group, as well as on self-management ability.Conclusion: The results of the intervention seem to depend on programme fidelity and method of assessment. Adapting the intervention and including more older adults with poor health status could lead to better outcomes in the future. This results of this study should be interpreted in light of the complexity and methodological challenges of conducting a community-based health-promotion intervention for this target group