Using longitudinal qualitative research to explore extra care housing

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The process of individual ageing in the context of a care environment is marked by continuity and change. It is shaped by individual, health-related factors as well as by diverse social and environmental factors, including characteristics of the places where older people live. The aim of this paper was to explore how longitudinal qualitative research, as a research method, could be used to explore older people’s changing care needs.

Methods: The study used a longitudinal design to examine how the care and support needs of residents and their expectations of services developed over time and how these were influenced by changes in the organisation of their housing as well as in the make-up of the resident population. Residents were interviewed on four occasions over 20 months.

Results: The study highlighted the complex ways in which some participants proactively managed the care and support they received, which we argue would have been difficult to discern through other methods.

Conclusion: The study adds to the growing evidence base that supports the use of qualitative longitudinal research; the approach enables the researcher to capture the diverse and mutable nature of older people’s experiences at a time of profound change in their lives.

KEYWORDS:

• Qualitative longitudinal research
• older people
• extra care housing
• housing with care
• care needs

Disclosure statement

This article presents independent research funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR School for Social Care Research or the Department of Health and Social Care, NIHR or NHS.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute for Health Research, School for Social Care Research [CO88/CM/UBDA-P73];

Notes on contributors

Ailsa Cameron

Ailsa Cameron is a senior lecturer in the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol and a member of the Centre for Research in Health and Social Care. Her research interests are in social care research, ageing, housing and the integration of services.

Eleanor K. Johnson

Eleanor K Johnson is a senior research associate in the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol and a member of the Centre for Research in Health and Social Care. Her research interests are in social care research, care work and ageing.

Liz Lloyd

Liz Lloyd is a professor of Social Gerontology in the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol and a member of the Centre for Research in Health and Social Care. Her research interests are in ageing, health and social care policies and practices and the ethics of care.

Simon Evans

Simon Evans is a principal research fellow at the Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcestershire. His research interests include dementia, ageing, housing, health and social care, care homes, and communities.

Randall Smith

Randall Smith is a senior research fellow in the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol and a member of the Centre for Research in Health and Social Care. His research interests are in the policies and practices related to ageing, social care and housing.

Jeremy Porteus

Jeremy Porteus is the director of the Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN), a network for the promotion of innovative housing solutions for an ageing population.

Robin Darton

Robin Darton is a senior research fellow at the PSSRU at the University of Kent. His research interest include housing, care homes and health and social services provision for older people.

Teresa Atkinson

Teresa Atkinson is a senior research fellow in the Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcestershire. Her research interests are in understanding the lived experiences of people affected by cognitive impairment