Abstract
The research community are increasingly being encouraged (both financially and morally) to connect with the relevant players from government, the non-profit sector, business and especially older people themselves. However, we need to understand and debate to a much greater degree how older citizens’ involvement in research can be appropriate, meaningful and beneficial. This mixed methods research combines a review of literature and practices on user involvement, an e-survey of practitioners in the age sector (n50) and 18 semi-structured interviews with researchers, government and non-profit sector representatives. The paper presents a review of the nature of user involvement in research and how this can be strengthened to improve the quality of work and the potential for stronger impact. This presentation sets out a review of the conceptual and practical basis of user involvement in research on issues and topics relevant to older adults; the types, levels and value of different methods of user involvement; the reasons why older people and their representative organisations get involved, the attitudes of researchers and practitioners to older citizens’ involvement. The paper utilises Foucault’s theory of power, provides a typology of researchers’ perspectives on user involvement and concludes with a set of good practice guidelines for researchers wishing to maximize involvement.