Browsing by Author "Patel, Naina"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Exploring multi-ethnic younger and middle-aged adults’ understandings of dementia and approaches to help-seeking
    (De Montfort University, 2021-04) Patel, Naina
    This research involved the participation of a hitherto under researched groups, namely younger and middle aged adults from lay public multi-ethnic communities. The overall aim of this research was to explore understandings of dementia and approaches to help-seeking. A qualitative study using grounded theory was conducted to develop insights about factors and issues that shaped understandings of dementia, including its framing to ageing and help-seeking. This research utilised focus groups with lay public participants to access a diverse range of perspectives and experiences. These were supplemented with interviews conducted with community workers to provide contextualised accounts of issues related to dementia help-seeking and care in diverse ethnic communities. A life stage approach was used to denote generational age and used to recruit lay public participants to the following three generational groups, namely 18-30 years, 30-40 years, and 40-55 years, from white British, Indian and Caribbean communities. Five community workers and volunteers were also recruited to participate in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The findings from the focus groups suggest that ethnicity did not play a mediating role in the possession of knowledge and understandings of dementia. Other factors were identified, including: exposure to the media; caring for relatives; dementia in their social networks; exposure to dementia in higher education studies, and participants’ own information seeking behaviours. Ethnicity and generational age was suggested to adversely mediate access to mainstream health and media information for older generations from ethnic minority groups outside of this research sample. Two forms of conceptualisations of dementia were evident. These included the concept of dementia as a mental illness and as a normal consequence of ageing, although their expressions were nuanced. These concepts of dementia were inextricably linked to old age but there were indications of generational changes in the way old age was conceptualised. There was a move away from chronological age definitions to an emphasis on the ageing process, including how well individuals took responsibility for managing their own ageing process and mitigating their risk of developing dementia. A typology of help-seeking approaches and care strategies was developed. This consisted of four types; traditional, flexible, constrained and individualised, which were developed to convey differentiated approaches to help-seeking by ethnicity and generational age. These types encompassed adaptions and reinforcement of filial piety in response to structural changes and factors. These encompassed perceptions and experiences of racism in the mental health system and the availability of care home support. This research emphasises the importance of future research encompassing intersectional approaches to research design to capture the heterogeneity of perspectives within and across all ethnic communities. The key message to healthcare providers and commissioners is that they need to address structural barriers to diagnosis and care, some of which may be common across ethnic communities, whilst others maybe specific. This research makes a number of unique contributions to knowledge, one of which is the need for more nuanced approaches to conceptualisations of dementia. It also explicates and interrogates how ageing is framed in relation to dementia, including individualised responsibility for ageing in a multi-ethnic research sample. Finally, this research also differentiates help-seeking strategies within and across ethnic groups by taking into account generational differences, dynamic interactions between culture and structural factors.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Final Report: Leicester Ageing Together (LAT): Evaluation Report
    (De Montfort University, 2020-01-06) Hinsliff-Smith, K.; Brown, Jayne; Patel, Naina
    Executive Summary According to the Office for National Statics (2018) the UK population has been steadily getting older and this trend is projected to continue. In 2016, there were 11.8 million UK residents aged 65 years and over, representing 18% of the total population – 25 years before, there were 9.1 million, accounting for 15.8% of the population. Linked to these statistics over 9 million people in the UK – almost a fifth of the population – say they are always or often lonely, but almost two thirds feel uncomfortable admitting to it (British Red Cross and Co-Op, 2016) and over half (51%) of all people aged 75 and over live alone (ONS, 2010). The Leicester Ageing Together partnership, known as LAT, has been working since October 2015 to reduce isolation and loneliness in older people in Leicester. So far, they have reached almost 6,000 older people, nearly half of whom were aged 80 years plus. This large and extensive programme recruited over 1,300 volunteers, as well as funding local jobs worth £1.5 million. LAT is part of Ageing Better, a programme set up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder to date of community activity in the UK. Ageing Better aimed to develop creative ways for older people to be actively involved in their local communities, helping to combat social isolation and loneliness. It was one of five major programmes set up by The National Lottery Community Fund to test and learn from new approaches to designing services which aimed to make people’s lives healthier and happier. This report commissioned by the LAT board in December 2018 was conducted by De Montfort University and reports the findings of a qualitative evaluation conducted at the end of the funding stream for the programme. The evaluation aimed to gauge the views and experiences of beneficiaries, stakeholders and provider organisations who were involved in the delivery of the programme. This evaluation was conducted over a four month period in early 2019 and where possible aimed to gain insights from across a range of ethnic groups, contexts and viewpoints. In total 50 participants shared their experiences of the programme, for which the evaluation team at De Montfort and LAT are extremely grateful. This report should be read with the understanding that the views shared in this report are not necessarily the views of everyone involved in the programme. They are time specific based on hindsight offering a snap shot of views at the end of the programme rather than throughout. The findings relate to data collected over a months in 2019 involving 50 participants who were at the time of data collection actively engaged in an activity as a beneficiary or were delivering programmes as a provider. The majority of the views shared in this report are generated from the 35 older people classed as the LAT programme beneficiaries with a further 15 interviews undertaken with provider and stakeholder organisations. This evaluation did not seek the views of the LAT board members. Ageing Better, the Big Lottery funders or organisations that were no longer offering LAT funded activities. The findings and therefore the recommendations are solely based on the evidence gathered during this evaluation exercise and it would be useful for these to be considered in light of the other extensive evaluations that have been commissioned not just for the Leicester programme but others commissioned across the sector. For example at the time of submitting this final report we understand there is an ongoing national evaluation by the Big Lottery which is anticipated to have cross cutting themes to other local evaluations. It would be wise, therefore, to review these in the context of Leicester and other UK Cities and similar programmes aimed to support loneliness and social isolation amongst older people (those aged over 50) and the communities to which they live. The report findings aim to capture the essence of the LAT programme including highlights, strengths and opportunities for future learning for similar programmes of activity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemEmbargo
    Leicester Ageing Together (LAT), Qualitative Evaluation, Preliminary Reporting July 2019
    (2019-07-14) Hinsliff-Smith, K.; Brown, Jayne; Patel, Naina
    Aims of the Presentation Provide an overview of the qualitative evaluation, how conducted, when and where Our preliminary findings from 3 groups: beneficiaries, providers and stakeholders Implications and next direction for the draft report