Generating evidence, tools and community‑led solutions needed to reduce exclusion and improve everyday inclusion for mid‑older Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender + (LBGT+) people across physical and online community spaces.
Why is the research needed?
Many older people experience exclusion from the communities in which they live. The World Health Organisation’s Age Friendly Cities and Communities programme highlights the need for more inclusive community environments to support older people’s participation. For mid‑older adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender + (LGBT+), exclusion is often intensified by historical and political experiences of marginalisation, including institutionalisation of people with IDD and the historic criminalisation and pathologisation of LGBT+ identities.
These experiences, accumulated over the life course, place older members of these communities at heightened risk of inequality, discrimination and exclusion in both physical and online community spaces. Digital technologies, increasingly central to social participation, can also pose barriers, particularly for people who already face exclusion. Despite these challenges, there has been very little research exploring how mid‑older people with IDD and LGBT+ communities experience inclusion or exclusion in their everyday local and online environments. Developing this understanding is vital to strengthening community inclusion across England, Scotland, and Wales.
What are we doing?
This study aims to build knowledge about the community spaces and places (physical, social, cultural, and virtual) used by individuals aged over 40 with IDD and LGBT+ identities, including those with profound and multiple disabilities wherever possible.
We will examine how participants attribute meaning to inclusion and exclusion in local and online community participation, how they experience societal inequalities and patterns of inclusion/exclusion over their life course and at points of intersection between groups, and identify how spaces and places can be made more accessible, supportive and inclusive.
Generational experience (e.g. ‘lost generation’, baby boomers, Gen X), and queer understandings of this, will be incorporated into the sampling and analysis to ensure a full life‑course understanding of community inclusion. We will use qualitative social network analysis to map online and local community participation among mid‑older adults with IDD, LGBT+ adults, and points of intersection. Insights will be used to develop solutions that promote inclusion and reduce exclusion in local and online communities.
How are we working with communities, services and organisations?
The research is structured across five work packages jointly led by university researchers and third‑sector practitioners. Crucially, people with lived experience of IDD and LGBT+ identities will guide all stages of the project through advisory groups. People with lived experience will also work as trained co‑researchers, contributing to data collection, analysis and interpretation, as well as knowledge exchange and impact activities.
A wide range of verbal, visual and geographical methods will be used to ensure marginalised voices are accessed respectfully and authentically. We will also collaborate with professionals and practitioners, including interviews and deliberative workshops, to deepen our understanding of how communities, services and organisations can design more inclusive spaces and places.
What will the impact and benefits of this research be?
This project will enhance understanding of community inclusion for older IDD and LGBT+ people and will help generate evidence‑based strategies to improve both physical and online community environments.
Anticipated impacts include increased opportunities for participation that reduce inequalities and strengthen everyday inclusion for mid‑older adults in both groups, greater awareness of the lived experiences of older IDD and LGBT+ individuals to inform public dialogue, service design and policy development, empowerment of marginalised groups through recognition, visibility and meaningful involvement in shaping the research, and contributions to a more inclusive and equitable landscape of community spaces and places across England, Wales and Scotland.
What do we have planned for knowledge mobilisation and implementation?
Knowledge mobilisation and implementation is taking place across the later stages of the study. We are working with IDD and LGBT+ participants to interpret findings from earlier stages through workshops that build shared understandings of inclusion and exclusion. We will bring together learning from across the project to co‑create practical solutions, using creative and arts‑based activities to identify ways to reduce barriers and strengthen community inclusion. We will be sharing these insights widely with policy makers, practitioners and the public. This includes giving participant groups opportunities to present their perspectives directly, and disseminating findings through the IncludeAge website, videos, blogs, news reports, social media, comics, policy briefs, and academic outputs.
Related papers, outputs and resources
You can find the outputs from the study here
This project can be viewed in a case study format for easy accessibility
Who is involved?
- Principal Investigator: Professor Judith Sixsmith, University of Dundee
- Principal Investigator: Dr Mei Fang, University of Dundee
- Professor Kathryn Almack, University of Hertfordshire
- Dr Richard Vytniorgu, University of Hertfordshire
- Professor Darren Chadwick, Liverpool John Moores University
- Dr Susan Buell, University of Dundee
- Dr Laura Roe, University of Dundee
- Dr Jenna Breckenridge, University of Dundee
- Professor Mark Smith, University of Dundee
- Dr Susan Levy, University of Dundee
- Dr Fiona Dobbie, University of Edinburgh
- Dr Meiko Makita, University of Dundee
- Sarah Offley, Dudley Voices for Choice
- Pat Scrutton, Intergenerational National Network
- Bob Green, Tonic Housing
- Anna Marriott, National Development Team for Inclusion
- Philip Gosling, Regard
- Leon Hamilton and Angela Ross, Out of the Box
- Prof Ben Thomas, London South Bank University
- Ruth Callander, Scottish Commission for Learning Disabilities
- Grace Cardozo & Annie Wild, Sleeping Giants
- Dr Joe Tai, University of Dundee
- Dr Joanna Gregory-Chialton, Liverpool John Moores University
- Sophie Coombs, Liverpool John Moores University
- Dr Rhiannon MacKenzie-Phelan, Liverpool John Moores University
- Dr Marianne Cranwell, University of Dundee
- Sallie Johnson
- Phil Eagleton
- Martin Wells
- Rory Finn
- Brian Boardman
- Shaun Webster
- Graeme Smith
- Hannah Smart
- John Keaveny
Get in contact
Email the project team at info@includeage.co.uk.
