Social capital and social climate of care settings for older people
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The relationship between social capital and the social climate of a care environment for older people: A comparative study in two care sectors
IRAS ID
173394
Contact name
Michael J T Woodward
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The relationship between the social capital and the social climate of a care environment for older people: A comparative study in two care sectors.
Social capital can be seen as a resource that is created by people through things like social networks and interactions that can help facilitate mutual or collective goals. Social climate or ‘atmosphere’ of an environment can be seen as the personality of an environment that gives unity and coherence to the place. The social climate of the environment could give either positive (such as cleanliness and homeliness) or negative (such as unclean and chaotic) impressions. Networks and interactions are important aspects of care home and hospice life and may provide insights to our understanding of life within these care environments with regard to the atmosphere of the environment.
The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate the relationship between social capital and the social climate within the two care settings of care home and hospice. The study will use both quantitative and qualitative observations to examine the quality and quantity of interactions in these two care settings, and use a total of 40 one-to-one semi-structured interviews with residents/patients, staff, visitors and volunteers to explore the role that visitors and volunteers play in the lives of those being cared for within the two care sectors. Questionnaires will be given to staff and visitors to measure the social climate of the environment. A total of 12.5 hours of observations will be taken over 3-5 days with a researcher having a presence in the care setting for 3-4 weeks to obtain enough questionnaires and interviews to gain the perspective of those that live, visit and work within these 2 types of care environment. This study aims to further our understanding of life within these care environments from a social perspective.
REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
15/IEC08/0035
Date of REC Opinion
17 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion