Faculty webinar: Including older people in health and social care research with Dr Victoria Shepherd

It can be challenging to recruit older people into research, meaning that they are often excluded from health and social care research. This webinar will provide practical advice to assist researchers to ensure their research is inclusive of this under-served group and to increase the number of older people participating in research.

The importance of designing inclusive studies is outlined, together with approaches to optimising recruitment in a range of settings including care homes, and the challenges of involving older people with impaired capacity and those from minority groups. The important role of engaging older people in public involvement will also be discussed.

Dr Shepherd is a Principal Research Fellow and registered nurse based in the Centre for Trials Research where she has a special interest in improving the inclusion of under-served populations with a particular focus on populations and settings where informed consent can be challenging and research involving older people.

She leads a programme of methodological research exploring the ethical, legal and practical issues around research involving adults who lack capacity consent and the development of complex interventions to address the barriers to inclusion.

She also concurrently implements this work in a range of health and social care studies through leading embedded methodological research to explore and address the barriers encountered in particular populations and contexts. Her work contributes to national and international guidance and is cited by research funders and governance organisations.

Submit your question for Victoria to answer during the webinar.