Older men at the margins, social engagement & loneliness V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Older men at the margins: a study of older men’s experiences of seeking social engagement and combating loneliness in later life.
IRAS ID
219116
Contact name
Paul Willis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This project is about identifying the ways in which older men (65+) stay connected with others and combat feelings of loneliness in later life. We are interested in the experiences and views of older men from hard-to-reach groups that are less recognised by health and social care services: older men living in rural areas who are single or living alone; older gay and bisexual men who are single or living alone; and, older men who are carers for significant others. Through reading about earlier research, we believe that older men from these groups may feel lonely in different ways and face different barriers to staying in touch with others in contrast to other groups of older men. The main aim is to understand better the ways in which men from these groups seek to stay socially connected in later life and this includes taking part in social activities and events organised by voluntary and local government services. We also wish to speak to older men who are single and do not belong to these groups to make some comparisons. We will seek to gather older men’s views through interviews – we think this is the best way to get a good understanding about their experiences to date. We will interview 80 older men from the four groups (20 from each group) and stakeholders from 20 services that are currently provide social activities targeted at older men in South West England. We will communicate the findings and key messages to older adults, voluntary services and social care professionals through a series of workshops hosted with Age UK (a national campaigning charity for older adults in England). Messages from the research will help provide better social activities for diverse groups of older men that suit their interests, needs and preferences.
REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
17/IEC08/0004
Date of REC Opinion
16 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion