Co-research with older people:perspectives on impact

Although research in partnership with older people has been slower to develop than that with some other service user ‘groups’, there are a growing number of health and social care studies that have involved older people as co-researchers. We build on this existing evidence by addressing two key areas. First, despite the growth of participatory research with older people generally, some groups tend to be excluded. We focus particularly on a project in which older people with dementia and older people from a black and minority ethnic community were involved as co-researchers. They worked with academic researchers in all stages of the research process, exploring other older people’s experiences of transitions between care services. Second, recent literature suggests a lack of critical evaluation of involvement, arguing that researchers tend to emphasise the positives on the basis of retrospective narrative accounts of the process, rather than critically appraising the impact of involvement. This article offers a critical account of the impact of a participatory approach at different stages of a research project, evaluating this from the perspective of different stakeholders. In so doing, we engage with incisive critiques which claim that, far from empowering service users, much service user involvement activity contributes to their oppression. We conclude that participatory research with marginalised older people has the potential to achieve meaningful change at both individual and social levels. However, in view of its dangers and limitations, we argue the need for the impact of participatory research to be carefully evaluated from the perspectives of all parties in the process. </jats:p

Micro-enterprises: small enough to care?

This report presents findings of an evaluation of micro-enterprises in social care in England, which ran from 2013 to 2015. Organisations are here classed as micro if they employ five or fewer full-time equivalent staff. The aim of the project was to test the extent to which micro-enterprises deliver services that are personalised, valued, innovative and cost-effective, and how they compare with small, medium and large providers. Working in three parts of the country, researchers compared 27 organisations providing care and support, of which 17 were microenterprises, 2 were small, 4 were medium and 4 were large. The project team interviewed and surveyed 143 people (staff, older people, people with disabilities and carers) who received support from the 27 providers. The findings presented are relevant to people who use services and their families; social care commissioners; regulators and policy makers at a local and national level; people who provide care services; and social entrepreneurs who are considering setting up micro forms of support. The research was based at the University of Birmingham. It was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of a project entitled Does Smaller mean Better? Evaluating Micro-enterprises in Adult Social Care (ESRC Standard Grant ES/ K002317/1)

Who knows best? Older people’s contribution to understanding and preventing avoidable hospital admissions

A report outlining the findings from a research project into older people's experiences of emergency admission to hospital and the possibilities for prevention. The overall study was funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit programme (PB–PG–0712–28045), albeit the conclusions drawn are those of the research team and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR, the Department of Health or the NHS/social care. This research was carried out at the University of Birmingham

Understanding and improving transitions of older people: a user and carer centred approach

This project focuses on older people and their transition between different services and agencies in health and social care. Research studies and reports from inspectors have shown that older people experience many problems before, during and after transitions. This project will be conducted in four local areas and has two key aims. First, it will explore what information, support and care is needed by older people (and their carers) as they go through a transition. Second, the project team will work with people and organisations in the four local areas to put the findings into practice.It is increasingly recognised that older people should be involved in improving the quality of services for their use. In this project, older people who are service users and carers will be recruited, trained and supported to participate in the research. They will work with academic researchers to conduct in-depth interviews in order to find out about older people's experiences of a recent care transition. Analysis of the data and presentation of the findings will be carried out jointly by academic and user/carer researchers.The project team will feed back the findings of the interviews in each of the local areas. It will also provide support to people and organisations in these areas to put the findings into practice, in order to improve transitions for older people. In each area, a local advisory group, which include service users and carers, will lead this process. The findings from the in-depth interviews and the local implementation activities will be shared with NHS, social care and other organisations nationally