Co-Creating Age-Friendly Social Housing
A collaborative research approach to improving experiences of ageing in place.
Co-Creating Age-Friendly Social Housing is a 30-month participatory action research project, developed by members of the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Manchester), GM Ageing Hub, CLASS and three housing association in Greater Manchester (One Manchester, Southway Housing and Stockport Homes). The project uses co-production with older people to develop and evaluate three new age-friendly initiatives, and in doing so uncover opportunities for greater collaboration between stakeholders on issues of urban ageing.
The proposed research aims to investigate how older people and social housing providers can collaborate on programmes that support people to remain healthy and socially active in their community as they grow older.
The project will use a participatory action research approach, which means the researcher will work ‘with’ (rather ‘to’, ‘on’ or ‘for’) older people to contribute to real initiatives that will improve older people’s quality of life. Older people will be supported to become co-researchers in each neighbourhood, ensuring that the research process and its outcomes address the needs and aspirations of the local residents. Training and support will be provided to co-researchers to ensure each project continues beyond the 30-month timeframe of the research programme.
The proposed research will support the development of three case study initiatives in Greater Manchester. The three neighbourhoods were chosen because of local factors that can negatively impact older people’s quality of life, such as gentrification, racial tensions, or high levels of social isolation. In each of the case studies, older people will work with a social housing provider to co-create a programme that identifies and responds to specific challenges and opportunities in each neighbourhood. These will address both the physical environments that older people live in and opportunities for social participation in the community.
The programme will be developed by an interdisciplinary team from the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG), Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and members of the Greater Manchester Housing Providers network (GMHP). This unique collaboration aims to develop a robust evidence base and a series of practical examples to support social housing providers to develop their own ‘age-friendly’ initiatives.
Principle Investigator
- Dr Mark Hammond - Manchester School of Architecture
Research team
- Prof Tine Buffel
- Dr Niamh Kavanagh
- Dr Alan Lewis
- Prof Chris Phillipson
- Prof Stefan White
- Dr Stephanie Steels
- Dr Sophie Yarker
Funder
Partner Organisations
- Greater Manchester Combined Authority
- One Manchester
- Southway Housing
- Stockport Homes
- Community Savers
More Information
More information can be found at the project website.
Contact Information
Dr Mark Hammond
E-mail: m.hammond@mmu.ac.uk