The role of day centres for older people in addressing loneliness.

Complementing quantitative evidence of loneliness as a threat to health and
social wellbeing among the increasing population of older people in England,
this qualitative research study will develop more nuanced understandings of
loneliness, how it is experienced and how it can best be prevented and/or
alleviated. Close collaboration with organisations tackling social isolation and
loneliness among older people in Newcastle will facilitate access to older
women's and men's own meanings and experiences of loneliness, and their
understandings of the benefits and limitations of day centres in improving their
sense of well-being. Alignment with the philosophy of the Centre for Social
Justice and Community Action, an international centre of excellence that
produces theoretically informed co-produced knowledge through communitybased
participatory research, will inform the theoretical, methodological and
ethical considerations associated with the project's participatory research
design. Older women and men drawn from three day centres will be supported
by the candidate, who is experienced in working with older people, to
determine the final study design, to select data collection techniques that best
suit their abilities and interests, to contribute, analyse and interpret data, and
disseminate findings. With relevance for current ESRC research priorities that
include health and social care, and mental health, this research will: i)
contribute to theoretical and conceptual understandings of loneliness, ii)
provide new insights into experiences of loneliness and its alleviation to inform
policy makers and practitioners, and iii) extend knowledge and experience of
the methodological possibilities of participatory research with older people.