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INVOLVING OLDER PEOPLE: LESSONS FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING

APPENDIX THREE Research objectives and methodology

Research objectives

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 baseline information would be used as a benchmark from which further developments could be assessed.

The study had four main objectives:

Methodology

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 below 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 City of Edinburgh Council.

The data collection was undertaken in two stages:

Stage one - a survey of the 32 Local Authorities in Scotland was undertaken in order to map existing and potential future opportunities for the involvement of older people in shaping public services, including Community Planning;

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 survey of Local Authorities

A survey of each Local Authority was undertaken in order to capture information about the involvement of older people in Community Planning and related activities. The survey gathered primarily qualitative information.

A draft questionnaire, to be used with each of the 32 Local Authorities in Scotland, was prepared by the researchers and presented for comment to the Advisory Group. The choice and construction of the tool was informed by a brief review of key literature and advice from the Scottish Community Development Centre. Amendments were made to the questionnaire following this process of consultation. Time did not permit piloting of this tool, however, further clarification about the questions was possible during the telephone interview. The questionnaire was sent out with a covering letter explaining that the researchers would telephone the co-ordinator to make an appointment to conduct a telephone interview in which their answers to the questions will be sought. This combination of written questions and telephone interviews allowed the researcher to gather both descriptive information and more qualitative data in a resource efficient way and to achieve a good response rate (Witcher et al. 2000). A one hundred percent response rate was achieved, although three responses were provided in written form only.

The questionnaire (Appendix 2) sought information about the 'who, what and how' of involvement (Ridley and Jones 2002) including:

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.

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.

Stage two - a series of focus groups

One of the difficulties in finding answers to some of the questions about involvement is that there is a lack of clarity about the meaning of the term 'user involvement'. Several authors have emphasised the complex nature of this activity (Ridley and Jones 2002, Carter and Beresford 2000, Walker and Dewar 2001). This complexity is difficult to capture using a survey, even with the additional telephone interview. Therefore, 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, were approached. They were asked to take part in focus group discussions in order to elicit richer information about the process of involvement.

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). Participants were identified and contacted with the help of the key contact for involvement of older people in the Local Authority.

Each group was made up of between six to ten individuals. The groups were facilitated by two researchers, both experienced in group facilitation. One researcher took on the role of lead facilitator whilst the other observed the group process, took brief notes and summarised key themes which emerged from the discussion. It was hoped that these summaries would be fed back to participants towards the end of the focus group and, therefore, would serve as an important validation tool for checking with participants the accuracy of the researchers' interpretation of emerging themes. Due to time constraints it was only possible to feedback key themes that emerged from the discussion. Individuals in one focus group requested a written summary to check for accuracy. This was possible, in this instance, but time did not permit us to carry this out for all groups.

Each focus group lasted approximately one hour and was used to capture qualitative data about individuals' perceptions of the experience of involving, in the case of professionals, or being involved, in the case of older people. This method allowed the researchers to gain in-depth data not captured by more traditional methods such as surveys or structured interviews (Ashbury 1995, Dewar, O'May and Walker 2001). The groups were asked particularly to give their perspective on:

Data Analysis

To aid the process of analysis, the telephone interviews were audio-recorded and written notes were taken by the researcher. Due to time and budgetary constraints, the audio recordings were not transcribed but instead acted as a back-up resource in case the researcher's notes were insufficiently detailed in regard to any point.

Each focus group was audio-recorded and summary notes were taken by the co-facilitator. The tapes were not fully transcribed, again due to resource limitations, but they were used as necessary to add further detail or richness to the notes taken by the co-facilitator. (Ethical considerations are described below)

A thematic analysis of the qualitative data collected through the telephone survey and focus groups was undertaken. The data were coded in conjunction with any field notes the researchers had made, and their initial reflections on the focus group data. These themes then formed the basis of the final report.

A draft report summarising the methodology, research findings and emerging conclusions was prepared and the Scottish Community Development Centre were then asked to undertake a critical review of the draft report and comment on the findings and their implications. Their comments were incorporated into the report and it was then presented to the Advisory Group for discussion. Following this meeting, the report was finalised.

Ethical issues

Ethical considerations were paramount throughout this study.

Informed consent

All participants received both written and verbal information about the study. The initial letter to local authorities explained the purpose of the study, gave a brief description of the study design and timescale and an indication of how the findings would be used. Participants were asked verbally to give their consent to contribute to the study before the telephone interview or focus group and confirmation of consent was sought at the end of the interview or focus group. The exploratory nature of this study was emphasised to older participants so as not to raise expectations about future involvement in Community Planning or service provision.

Confidentiality and anonymity

In relation to confidentiality and anonymity, the key informant in each Local Authority was informed that the information that they gave would not be attributable to them and would not be disclosed to other areas. It was also explained that the data collected through the survey would be presented in the final report by Local Authority area. While areas would not be named, some information may render the authority identifiable, and so anonymity could not be fully assured.

In respect of the focus groups, informants were assured that neither the sites nor the participants would be named in reports. However, where examples of good practice were discovered which could have a positive impact on practice in other areas, negotiations would take place between the researchers, the participants, their organisations and the Scottish Executive to seek permission to identify the area in any publications.

Only the research team and the Advisory group would have access to the names of individuals and sites participating in focus groups. Tapes and written records were anonymised and stored securely. All tapes are to be destroyed six months after the study is completed.

Reflections on methodology

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.

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.

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.

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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