PhD Project – Using mixed methods to inform our understanding of maintaining independence in older people

Student: Emily Taylor

Supervisors: Professor Vicki Goodwin MBE, Professor Andy Clegg (University of Leeds/Bradford Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation trust), Dr Julia Frost, Sue Ball.

The population are ageing and it is estimated that by 2025 there will be a 25% increase in the number of people aged 65 and over living in the UK with disability compared with 2015. Promoting independence among older people and those living with frailty and multi-morbidity is a key outcome of health and social care policy and practice.

In 2018, the James Lind Alliance undertook a priority setting exercise. Priority twelve was “How do older people with multiple conditions perceive their independence? What are the important factors in maintaining this independence?” This PhD aims to identify what factors are associated with older people maintaining their independence using both quantitative, qualitative and integrative methods.

Emily was awarded the President’s Poster Prize at the British Geriatrics Society Autumn Meeting for this presentation, Predictors of Independence in community-dwelling older people.