The changing nature and composition of the ageing population of the UK is dynamic and increasingly heterogeneous with the ageing of minority groups, the formal recognition of new social identities (e.g., LGBTQ+) and the increased life expectancy of those with lifelong disabilities (e.g.,cerebral palsy). We estimate these ‘new ageing’ population groups represent up to 15%, 1.3 million,of the 9 million people aged 65+ in the UK (4.9 million of the 33 million aged 40+). However there is little research reporting the experiences of ageing for these groups.
We consider all three groups because of their shared experiences of being negatively affected by social attitudes and marginalization and positively by equality legislation while recognizing potential differences within and between groups.
These groups have characteristics in common including:
- being the focus of stigma and discrimination across their life course to which ageism is added as they age,
- are under researched from a gerontological perspective,
- challenge existing stereotypes and images of ageing and
- have sparse research, policy, and practice evidence base.
Our research focuses on social health because it constitutes the third element of the WHO definition of health and extends beyond the focus on single concepts such as loneliness and isolation. We conceptualize social health as the situation when individuals are fully participating in the interconnected domains of their social world.
Three key evidence gaps in our knowledge about loneliness and isolation in older adults underpin our research:-
- the need to include groups of older adults underrepresented in our research evidence;
- the focus on social health rather than individual aspects such as loneliness
- the the need to incorporate the life course and intersectional approaches in understanding social health outcomes in later life.
What is social health?
This concept encompasses both objective (network size, isolation, participation-civic, cultural, economic, political) and evaluative (loneliness, social support, or social inclusion) dimensions and all forms of connections: in-person or remotely via digital and other media.
Social health is:
- robust levels of supportive social contacts
- relationships which are fulfilling and/or perceived as high quality
- engagement with others in their communities as equals
- full participation in interconnected areas of social life-cultural, political, economic, civic and
- relationships which support a sense of belonging.
This approach will provide a comprehensive overview of social health from which we will develop an index of socially healthy ageing. We integrate three concepts to understand and explain social health outcomes for our three groups. We combine ageing (the effects of time-life course), age as a social category (intersectionality) and explanation (the ecological model) to offer a novel approach to understanding late life social health outcomes.
Our project extends and expands the parameters of ageing research by applying intersectional and life course perspectives to evaluate, explain and extend our understanding of late life inequalities in objective (social isolation) and evaluative (loneliness) social health, the third element of the WHO definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing.
We use our civic university status to contribute our findings to policy/practice developments across the borough. Active engagement with our key stakeholders will ensure that the needs, preferences and aspirations older people, policy makers, practitioners, and service providers/commissioners, third sector organizations and academics of this group underpin our project and reflect the different contexts and diverse characteristics which contextualize the experience of ageing.