Ageing Well in Rural Communities Survey
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study to explore ageing well, frailty, resilience and physical activity in rural community-dwelling older adults.
IRAS ID
343012
Contact name
Garry Tew
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
York St John University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 6 days
Research summary
There has been some limited investigation of the needs of older rural-dwelling adults in relation to physical activity, but none in the UK. There have been no studies looking at physical activity and frailty in terms of rural dwellers, patterns, perspectives and perceptions. Existing research focuses on the outcome of physical activity interventions on frailty and highlights a need to investigate social elements to approach frailty through physical activity. A review looking at sedentary behaviours recommended that future studies consider personal and contextual potential determinants and issues such as ageist expectations before looking at solutions and recommendations.
When using an Intervention Mapping approach to projects, stage 1 is to survey the needs of the population and identify what, if anything, needs to be changed. Adopting this approach offers a pragmatic structure to look at how best to implement interventions that have high levels of evidence in the real world. Given the growing older population in rural areas, it is therefore necessary to survey current needs and patterns of engagement in physical activity and the perceptions and perspectives on frailty, resilience and ageing well.
This study will survey older adults (over 64 years) living in remote rural areas in North Yorkshire. Patients who meet the research criteria will be identified through a digital search of the GP patient database. A sample of 1000 of these patients will be sent a postal survey and invited to participate. The survey will be completed at the participant's home by paper copy, digital link or they can phone one of the research team for support to complete it by phone. Once the survey has been completed/ returned participation will have been completed. Reading the participant information sheet and completing the survey is expected to take about 30 minutes and the survey will remain open for 1 month after posting out.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
24/NS/0081
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jul 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion