Using longitudinal qualitative research to explore extra care housing

The process of individual ageing in the context of a care environment is marked by continuity and change. It is shaped by individual, health-related factors as well as by diverse social and environmental factors, including characteristics of the places where older people live. The aim of this paper was to explore how longitudinal qualitative research, as a research method, could be used to explore older people's changing care needs.

The study used a longitudinal design to examine how the care and support needs of residents and their expectations of services developed over time and how these were influenced by changes in the organisation of their housing as well as in the make-up of the resident population. Residents were interviewed on four occasions over 20 months.

The study highlighted the complex ways in which some participants proactively managed the care and support they received, which we argue would have been difficult to discern through other methods.

The study adds to the growing evidence base that supports the use of qualitative longitudinal research; the approach enables the researcher to capture the diverse and mutable nature of older people's experiences at a time of profound change in their lives.