Summary
Independent Age commissioned research to explore the reality of life for older people whose voices are less heard in debates about ageing: BAME; LGBTQ+; on low income; with physical or mental health conditions; providing informal care to others; without children; the 'older old'. To foreground their voices, we needed to overcome multiple challenges: finding participants who were often socially isolated; developing approaches adapted to the needs of our audience; ensuring confidence and safety of participants; and creating outputs that would bring their voices to life.
Approaches included participatory photography, ethnographic interviews, collaborative learning and follow up calls – all...