Professor Vicki Goodwin at Exeter University has led work to develop best practice recommendations on including older people in health and social care research based on the NIHR INCLUDE framework.
Older people are a broad heterogenous group, ranging from healthy individuals to those with severe health issues and dependency. Due to restrictions in upper age limits, the presence of comorbidities, and cognitive impairment, they are often excluded in some areas of health and social care research whilst being one of the highest users of health and care resources.
The recommendations aim to provide researchers with practical advice on how to improve the inclusion of older people in research. They include direct action recommendations across four factors – individual, interpersonal, organisation, and community – as well as four questions that may guide those developing, reviewing, and funding research relevant to older people.
More information can be found here: https://www.trialforge.org/trial-forge-centre/including-older-people-in-health-and-social-care-research/
