PCPH research team conducts new multi-disciplinary studies on older people

Two exciting studies on research participation and engagement of older adults in health promotion have recently been launched in the Centre for Ageing Population Studies (CAPS).

By Ann Liljas and Ana Jovicic

HomeHealth

In September 2014 the HomeHealth study looking at home-based health promotion interventions for older people with early frailty was launched.

Our study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme and aims to develop and test a home-based service to promote well-being and independence for older people with early frailty, designed for the NHS.

Led by Dr Kate Walters, the HomeHealth study will design a health promotion intervention tailored for people who are beginning to become frail. This part of the study will involve a review of the current literature, in particular focusing on which behaviour change techniques show most promise in older people with early frailty. Interviews and focus groups will also be conducted with older pre-frail people, carers, homecare workers, and community health professionals. A co-design approach with older people, carers, and experts will then be used to develop the home-based health promotion intervention. The feasibility of delivering this new service within the NHS will then be tested with a Randomised Controlled Trial.

HARP

The Healthy Ageing, Research and Participation (HARP) study is funded by NIHR School for Primary Care Research.

HARP follows on from the recently completed Well-being Interventions for Social and Health needs (WISH) study (2012-2013, funded by the Medical Research Council). In WISH, we found that people aged 85 and over, older people from some minority ethnic groups and those living in rented housing (a proxy for deprivation) are less likely to take part in health promotion initiatives.

Kalpa Kharicha leads the current study which aims to provide a better understanding of the reasons why these groups are less likely to take part in health promotion and research on healthy ageing.

The study will involve interviews and focus groups with older people who belong to at least one of the three ‘seldom heard’ groups mentioned above. This will help to find out what would help them stay healthy in later life, and their views on taking part in research and health promotion.

In addition, we are also looking for experts in ageing with knowledge of recruitment and engagement of older people for health promotion interventions to take part in a short questionnaire survey. Is this you or someone you know? Please email Ann Liljas at ann.liljas.13@ucl.ac.uk for more information.

For more information about the studies, contact Ana Jovicic at a.jovicic@ucl.ac.uk.