Aging & Society: Eighth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

The knowledge gap on how frailty is experienced in relation to older people’s everyday lives and in relation to their need for support from aged and social care has resulted in care services based on studies with young able-bodied people. The sparse amount of research about and with frail older people has led to a slow translation of research-based knowledge to practice, and uncertainties regarding the benefits for frail older people to participate in research. User participation in research has been described as a way to increase the benefits and relevance of research findings; but, frail older people have been excluded from most research about and with user participation. There is no current structure for how they can be involved in research in a way they experience as relevant and feasible. This project therefore explores user participation in research. With an explorative approach, frail older people, relatives, care staff, and researchers will be involved at different stages of the research process, with the purpose to visualise frail older people’s desires and needs. The originality of the project lies in the identification and acknowledgement of frail older people’s capacities, invisible in previous research that has excluded frail older people who do not live up to the norm of who are considered capable of sharing their knowledge. Inviting frail older people to make their voices heard, the project is expected to result in effective communication and translation of research findings in aged care.