Service needs and access to services among older community-dwelling people: a participatory research project

This project (January 2007 - September 2007) examined service needs and utilisation among older people in the parish of Marino and Fairview in Dublin. It provided an overview of the current levels of provision of supportive services for older people and made recommendations for better co-ordination of services at a local level. With the view to promoting the voice of the older people in the community, the research identified priority issues and needs of the older people living in the area. The research also explored the opinions and concerns of service providers and informal care-givers in the area and address gaps in services to identify how greater coordination of service activities can be achieved.

The project used participatory and inclusive research methods in order to maximise the older residents’ involvement in all stages of the work. The Project PI was Martha Doyle and the co-investigator Virpi Timonen. The research report was published by the HSE and Northside Partnership in February 2008. View research report (PDF format 303kb). The project also resulted in an article published in the journal of Research on Ageing