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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Older people's forums in the United Kingdom
— civic engagement and activism reviewed | | Author(s) | Jill Manthorpe, Jess Harris, Sam Mauger |
| Journal title | Working with Older People, vol 20, no 3, 2016 |
| Publisher | Emerald, 2016 |
| Pages | pp 165-178 |
| Source | www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/wwop.htm |
| Keywords | Pensioners organisations ; Pressure groups ; Self help organisations ; Citizenship ; Participation ; Literature reviews ; United Kingdom. |
| Annotation | Older people's forums seek to influence statutory responses to ageing, and enable older people to speak up on matters important to them. This paper reviews the literature on older people's forums in the UK. The review examined three facets of forums: their membership, structures, and effectiveness. Methods included searching databases, the internet, and specialist libraries for materials relating to older people's forums. Key points were extracted, and source material was described but not subject to quality appraisal. Relevant non-UK studies are included to draw contrast and comparisons. Several studies and reports have explored forum members' socio-demographic profiles, motivations and triggers for joining, and the two-way rewards of participation. However, membership remains a minority activity, with only a small percentage of members actively engaged. The review highlights gaps in the literature on widening participation. Both statutory and voluntary sectors have supported forum development and sustainability. There is little data on formal structures, but some exploration of the informal communications and behaviours that sustain them has been undertaken. Forums are viewed as effective but resource intensive. The size and representativeness of the membership, strength of influence, and deployment of members' expertise are all identified as potential contributors to effectiveness. Some material may not have been accessible, and there is potential bias by greater inclusion of journal-published materials than other possible sources. Material was not appraised for quality, and research literature and self-reporting by forums are presented alongside each other. Practitioners should familiarise themselves with current older people's organisations locally to ensure that consultations are broad and reach different groups. While partnerships with voluntary sector health and care providers are encouraged, some of these groups may not wish to represent all older people. Wider reach may provide multiple perspectives. Help in kind as well as financial resources may be welcomed by older people's groups, such as providing meeting spaces, assistance with administration, and briefings that are accessible. Offering to meet older people's forums to discuss matters regularly may provide insight into experiences of services and changing needs earlier than professional feedback. Dismissing older people's forums as being made up of the "usual suspects" is likely to be unfair and unhelpful to building up positive relationships. This review provides a preliminary assessment of the size and scope of research and grey literature on UK older people's forums. It synthesises points of similarity and difference and identifies clear gaps in the evidence. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-161125231 A |
| Classmark | BB6:P4: PME: PQ: IKC: TMB: 64A: 8 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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