Outline of proposed project
Rationale and Focus: Recent shifts in global and national demographic
balances raise important questions for policy and research on ageing
societies. With the emergence of older populations notions of ‘quality of
life’ are thrown into sharp relief and policy agendas are currently being
challenged at a range of spatial scales. Thus the United
Nations ‘Programme on Ageing’ calls for a set of critical policy-related
research priorities, and identifies ‘quality of life’ as a critical
research direction. The Department of Health’s National Service Framework
for Older People targets ‘the promotion of health and active life in older
age’ as one of its key standards. Since spatial mobility is a critical
dimension of quality of life for older people, geographers are well placed
to shape policy-related research on ageing.  And yet critiques from the
1990s identifying a lack of critical attention to older people’s lives
still remain relevant at the start of the 21st century: old age is under-
researched and under-theorised by geographers. Notions of access and
mobility are particularly significant for ‘hard to reach’ groups e.g. the
disabled, frail, and very old, and can also impact on the life chances of
the younger old, e.g. through access to employment and healthcare. There
is thus a significant knowledge gap affecting both research and policy
concerning the different mobility and access experiences of older people,
especially from their own perspectives.

This project seeks to address this gap by exploring older people’s
mobility and use of space, through an innovative participatory methodology
combining qualitative techniques with spatial data using Geographic
Information Systems (GIS). This approach challenges the view of some
social theorists of GIS as an ‘undemocratic’ tool  for spatial decision-
making. If theoretical work in critical GIS is to influence policy and
practice, there is a need for convincing empirical work. Through the
active involvement of research participants, the project will seek to
inform spatial decision-making and planning. Older people will map out
spatial mobility by exploring their use, experience, knowledge and
perceptions of their immediate environments. Issues for specific focus
(e.g. transport, healthcare, crime) will emerge during the research
process.

Of all regions, the ageing population in the early 21st century is
predicted to be most pronounced in north-east England (One NorthEast
2000).  This project seeks to explore issues of mobility for older people
in this region. Notions of access and mobility will be understood with
reference to recent work on ageing where old age and other social
identities are viewed as multiple, dynamic and closely connected to place.
The project will allow in-depth analysis of the ways in which who you are
(in relation to different old age identities) and where you are (in terms
of where you live and patterns of mobility) affect quality of life. As
well as exploring issues of social isolation and exclusion in some of
Britain’s poorest communities, the research will question some common
stereotypes about ageing, social contact and use of space. It will
highlight differences between older people in terms of age, income,
employment status, lifestyle, gender, ethnicity, health and ability, and
demonstrate the capacity of older people to raise, analyse and act upon
issues which affect them. The project will be genuinely collaborative,
involving older people in all stages from design, fieldwork and analysis
through to dissemination and influencing policy agendas.

Aims and objectives:
• To explore and explain different experiences of spatial mobility
among older people living in poorer urban and rural communities. To focus
on key substantive issues, and explore older people’s experiences of, and
solutions to, the problems they experience;
• To develop a methodological approach for integrating qualitative
data into a GIS within a participatory research framework;
• To contribute to academic understandings of identities of old age,
spatial mobility and social exclusion;
• To inform (i)  policy discussion on the problems, conflicts and
opportunities which different groups of older people experience, and (ii)
good practice in research and consultation with older people.

Research Questions:
• What patterns of spatial mobility do different groups of older
people assume? Is age a key determinant of spatial mobility or are other
social identities and/or economic factors more important? What role do
specific places/neighbourhoods have in explanation?
• How wide is the gap between actual and aspired patterns of
mobility? How do older people perceive access to different spaces, and
what are the main areas and activities from which they feel excluded? What
are the most important constraints and opportunities they identify?
• What solutions do older people propose for the problems they
experience? How do these solutions map onto the priorities, practices and
specific strategies of relevant policy-makers?

Methodology and timetable: The methodology has two innovative dimensions:
older people’s full participation, and the integration of qualitative data
in a ‘participatory GIS’. In the first year, the student will develop the
theoretical framework by reviewing literatures on old age, social welfare,
identity and place, and will engage with methodological debates on
participatory research and critical GIS. S/he will fine-tune the research
design and, working for part of the time at ACDC, will become familiar
with the study areas and local organisations. If necessary, s/he will
receive training in GIS and/or participatory techniques.

The second year will be spent on fieldwork and analysis in two study
areas, a rural former coal-mining community and an urban largely council-
owned estate, both of which experience multiple deprivation according to
recent IMD data. The research will include a diverse range of older people
including ‘hard to reach’ groups. In the first strand of the research,
older people will be accessed through the Age Concern Consultation
Service, currently being developed nationwide to carry out research
with ‘hard to reach’ older people to inform knowledge and policy. Ten
groups of older people in each area will be involved in focus groups using
participatory diagramming techniques. They will map activity patterns and
social networks, identify problems, constraints and opportunities, and
develop and evaluate possible solutions. These techniques can be
customized, e.g. for those with literacy or hearing difficulties. The
researcher will accompany small groups around the local area, using a
Global Positioning System (GPS), digital cameras and field notes in order
to identify popular or problematic places. A smaller sample of individuals
will be asked to keep time-space diaries, and one-to-one interviews will
be carried out, e.g. if participants are housebound.

In the second strand, large scale digital spatial data pertaining to the
services and infrastructure of the two study areas will be imported into a
GIS. This will involve extraction of existing datasets from Ordnance
Survey's Landline database and collection of location-specific
information. In a move away from representations based on the views and
perspectives of ‘experts’, the participatory approach to GIS which is
proposed here offers a more inclusive means of gathering and analysing
geographical information. The qualitative data from Strand One will be
integrated into the GIS through a number of different means: (i) overlay
of scanned/digitised mental map data by using key landmarks as geo-
referenced control points; (ii) highlighting commonly used routes and
destinations, problem places/areas, and ‘ideal’ mobility patterns; (iii)
incorporating text, voice excerpts, photographs and field observations.
Older people will be asked to use, verify and evaluate the resulting
system on a number of occasions using diagramming techniques. The third
year will be devoted to finalising data analysis and write-up of the
thesis. During this time the student will continue engagement with older
people and policy-makers in order to ensure strategic dissemination of the
findings.

Outcomes and dissemination: The research is likely to make intellectual
contributions to literatures on geographies of old age, social identity
and exclusion; debates around public participation GIS; and participatory
approaches. It will result in a high quality and publishable PhD thesis,
two or more refereed international journal articles, papers to national
and international conferences and a non-technical report on key findings
and policy recommendations. A small Steering Group to include older people
and key policy-makers (e.g. from Social Services, East Durham Rural
Transport Group, the Primary Care Trust, District and County Councils)
will meet quarterly to advise on the research, disseminate emerging
findings and facilitate follow-up action. A wider group of policy-makers
and professionals will receive regular updates. A one-day workshop will be
held for professionals, academics and research participants to present
findings and methodology. The report will be disseminated to a range of
national statutory and voluntary agencies. A key role of Age Concern will
be to advise throughout the project on the pertinence of the emergent
findings to current strategic priorities at national and local levels. At
a local level, ACDC is represented on a wide range of strategic planning
fora, while nationally ACE has the lead role for public policy on ageing
and older people, for associated national campaigns and for its national
influencing role. It has a commitment to dissemination of research into
policy and practice, and will actively participate in and champion the
dissemination of the key outcomes from this project.

Please contact Rachel Bell ([log in to unmask]) for further details:
Rachel Bell
Research Office Secretary
University of Durham
Department of Geography
Science Laboratories
South Road
Durham DH1 3LE

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