Older people, wellbeing and participation

This participatory research project was carried out by a team of older people, university researchers and a voluntary sector manager. It explored what wellbeing means to older people and how it is generated. We then worked with some members of the research team and statutory and voluntary sector practitioners and trainers to produce a film and a handbook.

Wellbeing has become a high profile issue in contemporary policy and practice. Rather than talking just about ‘improving health’ we are more likely to read about ‘improving health and wellbeing’, and similarly, the notion of ‘welfare’ is now accompanied by ‘wellbeing’: as well as ‘doing well’, the aim should be to ‘be well.’ Wellbeing has been associated with ‘happiness’, with ‘quality of life’ or ‘life satisfaction’. And sometimes it is talked about as ‘subjective wellbeing’ or ‘mental wellbeing.’ So the idea of wellbeing involves how we feel about ourselves and our lives, rather than how our lives might be assessed by others.

The material produced as a result of our research is based not only on what we found out about older people and wellbeing, but what we learnt from working with older people and with practitioners. It draws from different types of knowledge and expertise, but the starting point is what is important to older people.

Download the handbook

Project timeframe

This research project commenced in 2008, publications were produced in 2012/2013 and resources still have ongoing relevance.

Project aims

The overall aim was to produce resources to help those working with older people to develop ethical practice to enhance wellbeing. What this really means is promoting good practice with a heightened awareness of all the things that might be important in enabling people to ‘be well’ as they grow older.

Our research was designed so that older people could talk about what wellbeing means to them, and what helps them experience a sense of wellbeing.

ESRC JPG

ESRC grant number: ES/J001058/1

Older people, wellbeing and participation film

We created this film as a learning resource to be used in conjunction with the Older people, wellbeing and participation handbook. We hope that these materials will be interesting and helpful to anyone working with older people in the statutory or voluntary sector, friends and family of older people or older people who support others close to them.

In our research, we identified many different things that impacted older people's wellbeing. However, the resources focus on two main topics: supporting people in situations that involve them having to make difficult decisions, and caring relationships in which older people are adjusting to changes in the way they can both give and receive care from others.

By using both the handbook and film together, you will access important background material, which will enhance learning and help you to reflect on the questions and prompts that are provided. Our film has been divided into sections focusing on different themes.