Impact of obesity on health and social care needs among older adults
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of obesity on health and social care needs among older adults (50+) in England
IRAS ID
253586
Contact name
Hafiz Khan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University Of West London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Title: The impact of obesity on health and social care needs among older adults (50+) in England
It is evident that obesity is an increasingly prevalent health risk in the UK, particularly for older adults. The increasing life expectancy and obesity jointly lead us towards disability and dependencies. This is becoming a big burden to family and society. The country is under increasing financial pressure, as the obese older adult’s demand of health and social care increases. Moreover, older generations deserve a well-supported quality of life at the very end of their life.The obesity care pathway toolkit (National Obesity Forum, 2005) fails to address wellbeing and quality of life for older adults with obesity as a part of obesity care and management
Therefore, it is essential to analyse the link between current health status and wellbeing and also to identify their care received and unmet care needs. This will help to improve the quality of life of older adults with obesity and to contribute to the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework by the NICE (2015) with necessary information.
Research questions:
1. Is there any relationship between obesity, disability and co-morbidities in older adults?
2. Is there any link between current health status and overall wellbeing of obese older adults in England?
3. Is there any association between high body mass index and social care needs in older adults?
4. What are the unmet needs for social care of obese older adults?This study is part of a 3 yrs PhD project, funded by University of West London. The study would follow a mixed-method design by using both quantitative and qualitative data to explore the research questions and satisfy the research objectives.
But quantitative data is not enough to answer all my research questions. Therefore to understand the social picture, qualitative interview will follow. This includes qualitative semi-structured questionnaires through one time face-to-face and one to one conversation and in-depth interview on a small sample. The interview session would last roughly for 30-40 mins. These participants would be randomly selected from the patients list of the minor illness clinic of a NHS GP surgery.REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1093
Date of REC Opinion
11 Nov 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion