Study will focus on finding ways to improve well-being in later life
The Nuffield Foundation has granted £892, 518 to establish the Well-being in later life in Bradford cohort study.
It will be led by researchers from the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) in partnership with the universities of Leeds, Edinburgh, Manchester and Hull-York Medical School at the University of Hull.
About the project
The research team will explore factors that improve or reduce well-being for older people, focusing on frailty, care transitions, care needs, and care networks. Their findings aim to help the NHS and social care to improve services to meet people’s needs as they age.
Characteristics including age, frailty, gender, ethnicity, as well as experiences across the life course relating to income, living conditions and shifting support networks, can interact and impact on a person’s well-being in later life.
Jamilla Hussain, Consultant in Palliative Care Medicine and Senior Research Fellow at BIHR, and Andy Clegg, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Consultant Geriatrician at the University of Leeds and BIHR are leading the project, which will take nearly four years.
Who will take part in the project?
Working with GP practices in Bradford, the study aims to recruit 400 people aged 65 years and over who will be interviewed every six months for two years, along with any caregivers they live with, enabling the timely capture of information on their care needs and care provision. The team will focus on maximising recruitment of ethnic minority groups to ensure that the issues that impact well-being in later life can be investigated amongst people of different ethnicities.
Alex Beer, Head of Grants Operations and Portfolio Development at the Nuffield Foundation said: “There are significant data gaps that limit our understanding of older people’s well-being, including little knowledge of experiences of care and quality of life in the final stages of life. Existing datasets limit how far analysis can pursue inequalities beyond those of age, gender, and class.
“There is a particular lack of data about inequalities among older people by ethnicity or where they live. ‘Well-being in Later Life in Bradford’ is creating a truly novel data infrastructure to learn about and address these gaps. It also aims to lay the groundwork for a future multi-site cohort study with exciting opportunities to support policymakers, services and communities to improve well-being in later life for those most at risk of poor outcomes.”
We know that there are persistent inequalities in health in later life, including at the time of death and during bereavement. We also know those from ethnic minority groups and poorer backgrounds have some of the worst outcomes. Coming from such a background I am keen to see action to address this unfairness.Jamilla Hussain, Consultant in Palliative Care Medicine and Senior Research Fellow at BIHR
The study will include a focus on people who are living with frailty, including those who may be entering the final stage of life. There is limited research to understand how we can sustain well-being across these important life stages, meaning that the study will be at the forefront of international research in this area.Andy Clegg, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Consultant Geriatrician, University of Leeds and BIHR
