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INVOLVING OLDER PEOPLE: LESSONS FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING
CHAPTER THREE Research objectives and methodology
Research objectives
3.1 This study was commissioned in order to provide baseline information about the involvement of older people in the development and delivery of public services in Scotland and their participation in the Community Planning process. The intention was that this information would be used as a starting point from which further developments could be assessed.
3.2 The study had four main objectives:
- to obtain an accurate picture from each Local Authority of:
- the current mechanisms for, and extent of, involvement of older people in shaping public services in Scotland,
- plans for the involvement of older people in Community Planning in Scotland;
- to identify the principles of effective involvement and the barriers to the involvement of this group;
- to identify examples of good practice in involving older people in Community Planning or similar processes, in particular the inclusion of hard to reach older people; and
- to identify how involvement has improved outcomes.
Methodology
3.3 Two main methods were employed to capture the experiences of both professionals and older people in relation to the involvement of older people in shaping public services. These were telephone interviews and focus group discussions. The methodology employed is described in more detail in Appendix 3, as well as some of the ethical considerations for the study. The project was guided by an Advisory Group made up of representatives from the Scottish Executive, CoSLA, Help the Aged, Age Concern and the City of Edinburgh Council.
3.4 The data collection was undertaken in two stages:
- Stage one - a telephone survey of the 32 Local Authorities in Scotland was undertaken using a questionnaire (see Appendix 2) in order to map existing and potential future opportunities for the involvement of older people in shaping public services, including Community Planning. A one hundred percent response rate was achieved;
- Stage two - focus groups were undertaken with professionals and older people in order to gather in-depth data about their experience of involvement and emerging good practice issues.
Stage one - a telephone survey
3.5 Questionnaires were sent to the Community Planning Co-ordinator in each Local Authority. These coordinators were asked to consent to a telephone interview, or to suggest an alternative contact. Less than one third of these coordinators felt they were the most appropriate person to respond to the questionnaire. The remainder felt that colleagues in other positions, for example, Joint Future Development Manager, Policy Officer, Lead Officer for Social Work, Community Care Officer and Community Development Officer were the most appropriate contact, because of their knowledge of current involvement of older people. Five of the respondents, who were not Community Planning Co-ordinators, had a specific remit for involving older people.
3.6 Co-ordinators were asked to gather the information required in consultation with their planning partners. The researchers were aware that some involvement activities undertaken by partners may ultimately feed into the Community Planning process but may not be labelled as 'Community Planning'. Through the survey, planning partners were encouraged to highlight these as well as more direct examples of involvement in Community Planning.
3.7 The questionnaire (Appendix 2) sought information about the 'who, what and how' of involvement (Ridley and Jones 2002) including:
- current structures and mechanisms that are in place to facilitate the involvement of older people in Community Planning (this will include ad hoc structures and one-off or short term mechanisms such as consultations, as well as longer term opportunities for representation or involvement);
- examples of initiatives that have been undertaken to involve older people in local planning and development activities (this may include activities focusing on older people as individual community members or on organisations 'of' or 'for' older people) and details of the methods employed;
- indications of the direct and indirect outcomes of these activities;
- barriers to the involvement of older people in local planning and development activities;
- any emerging learning about good practice when involving older people;
- experience of involving 'hard-to-reach' groups such as older disabled people or elders from minority ethnic communities and the lessons that can be learned from these experiences;
- the range of initiatives, including education and support, which have been implemented to increase older people's capacity for involvement;
- any strategic work that is being undertaken locally to identify gaps in the involvement of older people in Community Planning and to address these gaps;
- any resource issues in relation to current and future involvement of which the authority is aware; and
- future plans to further develop structures, mechanisms and good practice exemplars, in order to involve older people in Community Planning.
Stage two - focus groups
3.8 Two local authorities, which had been identified by existing literature or experts in the field as demonstrating good practice in relation to the involvement of older people in shaping public services, took part. In each area, one focus group was conducted with a group of professionals who had involved older people, and one with a group of older people who had had experience of participating in Community Planning or related involvement activities, giving a total of four focus groups (n = 4). Each group was made up of between six and ten individuals.
3.9 The groups were asked particularly to give their perspective on:
Reflections on methodology
3.10 The first point of contact within each area was a senior official within Community Planning. As Community Planning is relatively new, often this person was unable to provide the information needed and instead the researchers were given a range of other contacts within single agencies. This made it difficult to collect data in a systematic way. Recommendations are made later in the report about the need for systematic mapping, development, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of involvement activities.
3.11 It must be acknowledged that the study largely gives a public agency view of the involvement of older people in shaping public services. Resource limitations meant that the views of only two groups of older people were sought. More work needs to be done to access the views of a wider range of older people both locally and nationally in order to develop involvement further in the most appropriate ways.
3.12 Telephone interviews proved to be a very successful way to reach key informants in all areas within a very short period of time. This method of data collection should be considered for use in other studies which operate within a short time scale.
3.13 The research team acknowledges that the involvement of older people in this research process falls short of modelling good practice in this field. That is, it would have been valuable to have engaged with older people at the outset regarding the design and implementation of this work. Time and commitment to the involvement of older people in research needs to be considered as a priority in future work if research is to be relevant and meaningful to those who have a key role in implementing the findings.
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