Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HOMeAGE (Advancing Research and Training on Ageing, Place and Home)
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-31
Ageing in place is critical to the future of ageing societies in Europe and reflects the desire of the majority of people to remain living in their own homes and communities in later life. Yet, critically, almost a third of older Europeans experience neighbourhood deprivation, a fifth encounter a lack of social cohesion, a growing number face homelessness and approximately 3 million people continue to reside in institutional settings. There are thus significant concerns that current efforts are failing to support ageing in place. Despite an increasing body of research, and a growing political interest, the field lacks definition and its development is fragmented across disciplines and sectors with researchers not equipped to tackle this fragmentation.
The HOMeAGE Doctoral Network responds to this challenges and aims to institute an international programme of doctoral training and research that drives the development of new leaders in excellence for the advancement of evidence-based innovation on ageing in place. HOMeAGE pursues three strategic objectives:
1. Needs and Systems
HOMeAGE will identify flexible and sustainable housing, community-care and mobility systems and critically assess their capacity to support community living needs, across various cultural and structural conditions.
2. Home and Belonging
HOMeAGE will identify innovative place-based pathways for engagement as a means to create new channels for building a sense of home and belonging amongst diverse older populations, in diverse places.
3. Rights and Voice
HOMeAGE will identify integrative frameworks, that are responsive to the diversity of older people and their places to drive relevant and rights-based policy development on ageing in place.
The HOMeAGE Doctoral Network responds to this challenges and aims to institute an international programme of doctoral training and research that drives the development of new leaders in excellence for the advancement of evidence-based innovation on ageing in place. HOMeAGE pursues three strategic objectives:
1. Needs and Systems
HOMeAGE will identify flexible and sustainable housing, community-care and mobility systems and critically assess their capacity to support community living needs, across various cultural and structural conditions.
2. Home and Belonging
HOMeAGE will identify innovative place-based pathways for engagement as a means to create new channels for building a sense of home and belonging amongst diverse older populations, in diverse places.
3. Rights and Voice
HOMeAGE will identify integrative frameworks, that are responsive to the diversity of older people and their places to drive relevant and rights-based policy development on ageing in place.
Strong progress has been made in relation to HOMeAGE’s research objectives by its doctoral researchers (DRS). DRs have completed the finalisation of their study methodologies, an assessment of ethical considerations and submission of ethical approvals. This progress also includes completion of literature reviews and syntheses of state-of-the-art knowledge, comprising of general, critical or systemised reviews. Many DRs have progressed to their empirical research phases, encompassing direct fieldwork and data collection and or analysis of large-scale secondary datasets. DRs have, as such, gained a strong understanding of the complex phenomena that they are investigating. Researchers have also in many cases gathered preliminary insights regarding the potential solutions that may be appropriate for their challenges. In terms of training, the HOMeAGE Training Curriculum developed by the HOMeAGE network is continually adapted in accordance with the advice and guidance from an international panel of policy and research experts, an older adult reference group, and DRs themselves. Three network-wide training events have been held, incorporating a dual research and policy focus, and an open public lecture series that has attracted 164 online attendees.
HOMeAGE has made significant advances on a range of dimensions of ageing in place scholarship that have thus far been under-investigated and underexplored. For example, research is underway into how spatial justice can inform more inclusive housing approaches for older adults from minoritised groups. Mobility barriers for ageing in place are being investigated, and transport solutions are being assessed that enable mobility and high-quality ageing in place experiences. Research is being conducted on how digital technologies can enhance the access and adequacy of care and support of frail older people. In addition, research is examining digital mediated belonging for older Syrian migrants within different place environments, and the meaning of home for older women experiencing homelessness, unpacking how home and community is made and un-made. Work on differential effects and mediators of environmental change processes is examining the implications for the quality of life of older people in areas impacted by change. Research is also being completed on a range of new frameworks to advance critical gaps in policy and representation. This includes: the examination of rural home-care provision to inform the development of a spatial ageism lens that counters spatial and age-related inequalities; and the assessment of a human rights and decolonial approach in the equity of policy development. It also includes an examination of the inclusion of diverse older adult groups in key innovation sectors, and in age-friendly and urban planning strategies.
Beyond this, scientific advances are already emerging from the network across three key areas. First, DRs have enhanced the scope and depth of scientific knowledge available to the research community, through the development of state-of-the-art knowledge critiques. This has resulted in 5 working papers, 3 article submissions to academic journals and 1 article already accepted for publication. Further empirical research, which will be delivered by each HOMeAGE DR, is required to address identified gaps in knowledge. Second, doctoral researchers are targeting contributions to theory and are beginning to generate more advanced conceptual perspectives. This includes work on conceptualisation of inclusive housing, theoretical mechanisms in making home in insecure settings, rural spatial ageism, theories of digital exclusion, human rights approaches for ageing in place, and the constitution of age-friendliness for diverse groups. These initial ideas will need to be assessed in relation to empirical findings, and other contexts in future studies. Third, and with respect to methodological innovation, DRs are advancing mixed method techniques to centralise the lived experience of older people in research and policy. Work in this area has concentrated on developing co-design approaches and research partnerships with excluded groups, on using creative, game- and arts-based methods to represent the experiences of older people, and on harnessing digital-assisted methods to understand daily routines. The longer-term goal is to leverage these insights to influence local communities positively, and to gain improvements in older adult wellbeing.
Beyond this, scientific advances are already emerging from the network across three key areas. First, DRs have enhanced the scope and depth of scientific knowledge available to the research community, through the development of state-of-the-art knowledge critiques. This has resulted in 5 working papers, 3 article submissions to academic journals and 1 article already accepted for publication. Further empirical research, which will be delivered by each HOMeAGE DR, is required to address identified gaps in knowledge. Second, doctoral researchers are targeting contributions to theory and are beginning to generate more advanced conceptual perspectives. This includes work on conceptualisation of inclusive housing, theoretical mechanisms in making home in insecure settings, rural spatial ageism, theories of digital exclusion, human rights approaches for ageing in place, and the constitution of age-friendliness for diverse groups. These initial ideas will need to be assessed in relation to empirical findings, and other contexts in future studies. Third, and with respect to methodological innovation, DRs are advancing mixed method techniques to centralise the lived experience of older people in research and policy. Work in this area has concentrated on developing co-design approaches and research partnerships with excluded groups, on using creative, game- and arts-based methods to represent the experiences of older people, and on harnessing digital-assisted methods to understand daily routines. The longer-term goal is to leverage these insights to influence local communities positively, and to gain improvements in older adult wellbeing.