Research project on ageing

Recent reports on the increasing number of attacks on the homes of older people in Northern Ireland have helped to focus attention on the circumstances in which older people live.

Awareness has also been raised because of research about the quality of care for older people and the problems that they may face.

ARK (The Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive ), a joint initiative by the University of Ulster and Queens University, conducted a large scale survey in 2003 on attitudes towards older people in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Questions ranged from general attitudes to older people, to issues such as the treatment of older people by the financial sector, discrimination in the workplace and the social care needs of older people.

The results of this survey can be read on the ARK website at www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/results/olderpeople.html

How you can help with ARK research

ARK is looking for people over 50 years of age who are interested in taking part in individual interviews and would be willing to share their own experiences of how growing older has impacted on their lives or the lives of people that they know.

ARK is also looking for interviewees with a vision of how inter-generational relationships between older and younger people can be improved.

A series of interviews took place between September and December 2004. Anyone interested in taking part in future research should contact Dirk Schubotz at Queens ' University Belfast, on tel: 028 9097 3947, or email d.schubotz@qub.ac.uk .