Project | The differential effects and mediators of environmental change processes on quality of life of older people. |
Host: | University of Galway (Ireland) |
Main Supervisor: | Prof. Dr. Kieran Walsh |
Co-Supervisors: | Dr. Sharon Walsh, Dr. Stephen O’Neill, Dr Frank Oswald, Chris Ryan |
Title of Project: The differential effects and mediators of environmental change processes on quality of life of older people
Aim of Project: This project aims to examine the relationship between quality of life and sense of belonging, and how this is impacted by urban/rural changes such as depopulation, deprivation, counter-urbanization and gentrification. The project will contribute to enhanced understanding the dynamic role of place and belonging on the well-being of community-dwelling older people.
Countries worldwide are experiencing rapidly ageing populations coupled with different urban and rural change processes. There is inconsistent evidence on the impact of the various environmental changes on older people who are ageing in place. This project adopts a mixed methods approach focused on the Irish context, to study these differential changes and identify whether a sense of belonging acts as a mediator. State-of-the-art literature on existing policy and practice interventions designed to build a sense of belonging and improve quality of life of older people will be reviewed. The research involves quantitative econometric analysis of the TILDA dataset as well as case studies from different sites across Ireland developed from in-depth interviews with older adults and stakeholder focus group discussions.
