Covid-19 has had a substantial impact across the globe, bringing about strange and isolating experiences that has changed life as we knew it. Continually adapting to multiple lockdowns, frequently changing policy and guidelines, and being separated from loved ones, all whilst trying to find a new ‘norm’ has made it a very tough year.
Older adults are a particular age group that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. In the UK, 9 out of 10 Covid related deaths were among those aged 65 and over in 2020, and almost 60% of the 3.8 million individuals shielding were also in this same age group (NHS Digital, 2021). The mix of increased health risk and having to shield has meant older adults are those experiencing greater separation from loves ones, more time alone and an increased sense of loneliness (Age UK, 2020). Although digital technology has provided an outlet for connecting with others, households with one adult aged 65 or over had the lowest level of internet connections in 2020 (ONS, 2020). In turn, this pandemic has meant a lot of these older individuals are having to rely on and adapt their daily routines to incorporate digital technology for the very first time in their life (Centre for Ageing Better, 2021).
As the pandemic persists, older adults will be among those continuing to experience loneliness and social isolation, creating further detrimental impacts on their health and wellbeing (Wong, 2020). Finding creative ways to connect with each other and age healthily and happily are important aspects of place-based community building. This connection is highlighted by the United Nations collaborative ‘Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020-2030 plan’ (WHO, 2020), which provides important enablers for connecting people and place as a way to engage older adults to use their voices as agents of change.
Can we connect individuals through research?
Collaborating with citizens through co-produced research is a growing practice that is increasingly used to generate scientific knowledge from the ground up (Voland et al. 2021). This type of approach engages citizens from start to finish, which makes the processes and outcomes relevant and useful to end users. It is an approach that has also demonstrated many beneficial outcomes, such as strengthening public trust and transparency in scientific processes, and producing in-depth knowledge based on experiences that may otherwise be unattainable.
Citizens, who may also be referred to as citizen scientists, can increase their knowledge and education around the research topic as well as scientific research in general. Projects that use this approach have also highlighted ‘ripple effects’ in which citizens are empowered to act within civil society and for community change.
Connecting citizens through co-production
The ‘Improving your local area’ project is an example of a co-production project that has connected citizens and community members online across Birmingham as an unexpected outcome. The purpose of this project is to understand how local areas of Birmingham influence active ageing experiences for citizens aged 60 or over. To achieve this understanding, a four stage approach (Stanford Medicine, 2021) has been employed to engage citizen scientists to discover, discuss, advocate and make change in their local area.
Source: ‘Improving your local area’ recruitment poster
So far, the project has engaged 18 older adults across Birmingham to participate as citizen scientists and use their voices to co-create outcomes that can improve their local area. Alongside this, ‘expert’ members who belong to intermediary community organisations and services aimed at ageing well, local authorities and urban planning have connected through the project.
Citizens connecting to be and act together
By bringing together older adults across multiple wards in Birmingham, UK, this project has connected citizens through online discussions about the barriers and facilitators of healthy ageing in relation to urban design and planning. Participants have expressed a desire for intergenerational activities to improve their active ageing experiences. An unexpected outcome though was the meaningful connections that citizens made with one another in form of support and providing solutions to each other’s problems. For example, research participants connected to find local venues to run exercise classes. Others connected to play online board games, as well as sharing safety information for when using public transportation and guiding each other on walks and routes that connect their local green spaces.
An important step in reaching out to older adults was connecting with organisations they are part of or contribute to and sharing information about the project through these channels. To ensure older adults were also able to participate using virtual platforms, information sheets and detailed guidance was prepared for accessing these platforms, alongside a project member being available to guide participants via phone calls. Providing this guidance is vital for reaching out to these individuals, who may otherwise face digital divides, and ensuring they have the support to take part.
‘Experts’ connected with others to develop new kinds of solutions
‘Expert’ members who also took part in the project were those who work or volunteer in intermediary ‘ageing well’, urban planning and public health services across Birmingham. Taking part in the discussion groups with one another highlighted that these individuals have the same end goal in mind but lack opportunities to connect with each other or to co-ordinate to achieve their goals. Participating in the research has enabled individuals to connect with one another to attend community groups and share ideas for local initiatives such as the future parks accelerator program.
Next steps in co-producing urban wellbeing research
Providing solutions and support for one another reduced participants’ social isolation, and connecting older adults with intermediary community members and policy makers can help support these individuals in effecting change.
One area which could be addressed in this way is the desire for more intergenerational activities. Providing these opportunities and evaluating their effects on the physical and mental wellbeing of older adults will also generate important research findings.
Grace Wood is a Doctoral Researcher in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham.
Useful References
- Age UK, 2020 – https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/reports-and-publications/reports-and-briefings/loneliness/241120_tackling-loneliness-among-older-people-this-covid-winter.pdf
- WHO, 2020 – https://www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing
- NHS Digital, 2021 – https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/shielded-patient-list-open-data-set
- Wong (2020) https://bjgp.org/content/70/700/e817
- Voland et al. (2021) – science behind citizen science
- Center for ageing better, 2021 – https://www.ageing-better.org.uk/blogs/how-are-older-people-adapting-digital-technology-during-covid-19-pandemic
- Stanford Medicine (2021) – http://med.stanford.edu/ourvoice.html
Connecting older adults through urban wellbeing research has highlighted unexpected positive outcomes, even during a global pandemic.