Completed Seed Fund Projects

The projects funded by the CAP seed fund are required to produce a report at their conclusion. A list of the completed projects and the associated reports can be found below.

A List of Complete Projects:

Looking forward: A review of children's and young people's perceptions of old age.

Medication regimes in nursing homes for older people: Enforcement or empowerment.

Better Housing for the aged population in Northern Ireland.

Looking forward: A review of children's and young people's perceptions of old age

Research Team: Dr Rosemary Kilpatrick, Professor Geraldine Macdonald, Dr Laura Dunne (School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast)

Email: l.dunne@qub.ac.uk

This report presents the findings of a systematic review of existing research on children’s perceptions of ageing. This project aims to gain a comprehensive view of research around children and young people’s perceptions of ageing by scoping existing literature using a systematic review (SR) methodology. This resource will be useful to policy makers, practitioners and researchers working in this area. The review will, in turn, inform the development of a larger scale proposal addressing gaps in knowledge in the field of ageing and intergenerational research.

The full report can be found here.

Researcher: Professor Carmel Hughes (School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast)

Email: c.hughes@qub.ac.uk

Nursing homes face major challenges over the issue of control of medication for older people. This is according to new research Adherence with medication in nursing homes for older people: resident enforcement or resident empowerment? by Professor Carmel Hughes and Roz Goldie at Queen’s University. 

The research was carried out to explore the issues surrounding adherence to medication in nursing homes and resident involvement in prescribing and decision-making on medicines. GPs providing care to nursing home residents, nursing home managers and residents from these homes across Northern Ireland were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews and focus groups.  Although adherence with medication is not perceived to be a problem in nursing homes, other aspects of medication use appear to be problematic for GPs and nurses. Both healthcare professionals have highlighted the need for control of the prescribing or administrative processes in order to ensure safety and continuity of care. Control is negatively influenced by poor medication records, polypharmacy, medication side-effects and lack of medication review. All of which affect safety, quality of care and control of disease.

“Control of medication for older people in nursing homes is exerted in order to increase safety and minimise risk, but sometimes this can be at the expense of resident’s independence and appear to result in disempowerment,” said Professor Hughes. “These findings reinforce the need to promote patient-centred care within practice and policy. We found that residents took their medication regularly and only refused it if they thought it was giving rise to side-effects. They accepted control without question and did not appear to want to be involved in prescribing or administration of their own medicines.”

The full report can be found here.

"Better Housing for the aged population in Northern Ireland"

Researcher: Dr Karim Hadjri, School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, QUB. k.hadjri@qub.ac.uk

This study’s emphasis is on sheltered housing built and run by housing associations in the Belfast area. This type of accommodation, which is available in different categories, aims to allow people live independently and are known to be more flexible. A sample of buildings was selected that best represents the social, economic, and typological differences. This was undertaken after visiting over 100 buildings. A random sample consisting of 50 developments of different ages and categories were selected for further study, and later 26 buildings were investigated in detail by conducting interviews with tenants and undertaking an environmental evaluation of the building.

This research recommends that housing for older people should be designed to (a) enable easy way-finding, (b) should be safer and healthier, (c) should allow for personalization and community building, and (d) should be more comfortable.

In particular designers should:

a) Use efficient colour schemes to denote change of areas and storeys, and to enhance mood and well-being; use more efficient signage; and provide obvious location of toilets, lifts, staircases and other facilities.

b) Propose buildings that are:
    • secure by design, i.e. protected open spaces with adequate lighting at night;
    • have easy-to-use emergency doors; and
    • have sufficient natural lighting and are well ventilated.

c) Allow for personalisation by providing sufficient storage and space for own furniture and decorations; and plan and locate new housing within neighbourhoods and close to public amenities such as post-office, community halls and religious buildings.

d) Improve user comfort by allowing for more space in private rooms, and better ergonomics of fixtures and fittings such as water taps, windows and doors.

The full report can be found here.