The Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) has been granted £892,518 by the Nuffield Foundation to establish a study focussing on older people's wellbeing.
The cohort study, named Wellbeing in Later Life in Bradford, will be conducted in collaboration with the Universities of Leeds, Edinburgh, and Manchester, as well as the Hull-York Medical School at the University of Hull.
Wellbeing, defined as a positive and sustainable state in which people can thrive and flourish, may be problematic for older people due to various factors, including frailty, gender, ethnicity, and living in more deprived areas, according to the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The research aims to shed light on the circumstances that improve or decrease wellbeing in older people.
It is hoped that the study's findings will help the NHS and social care services to better care for older members of society.
The study will aim to recruit 400 people, aged 65 and above, along with any caregivers they live with.
The chosen participants will be interviewed every six months for two years, allowing the researchers to observe frailty-related transitions or events as they occur.
The research aims to maximise recruitment from ethnic minority groups to ensure that the search is as widely representative as possible.
The new project, which will be undertaken in partnership with the Born in Bradford team, follows on from the successful Community Ageing Research 75+ (CARE75+) study, which started in Bradford.
Jamilla Hussain, consultant in palliative care medicine and senior research fellow at the BIHR, and Andy Clegg, professor of geriatric medicine and consultant geriatrician at the University of Leeds and BIHR, will lead the study.
Ms Hussain said: "We know that there are persistent inequalities in health in later life, including at the time of death and during bereavement.
"We also know those from ethnic minority groups and poorer backgrounds have some of the worst outcomes, such as frailty and loss of independence in older age.
“Coming from such a background I am keen to see action to address this unfairness."
Mr Clegg said: "There is limited research to understand how we can sustain wellbeing across these important life stages, meaning that the study will be at the forefront of international research in this area."
The Wellbeing in Later Life in Bradford study is set to start recruiting participants in April 2025.
The team intends to work closely with GPs to identify suitable candidates, and to send out letters of invitation from their practices.
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