Older people, even those living with long-term conditions or poor mobility, can be supported to live well at home, through adapting their home to meet changing need. Installing home adaptations, from grab rails to walk in shower rooms, is cost effective, may prevent falls, reduce social isolation and improve self confidence. Despite austerity cuts to public spending, the UK government increased home adaptations’ funding. However, not much is known about older people’s experiences and understanding of acquiring and living with home adaptations and uptake of home adaptations could be improved. Using wearable camera and face to face interview data, this qualitative study explored a diverse group of older people’s retrospective experiences (n = 30). Focus group discussions were also carried out with a wide range of professionals involved in the provision of home adaptations (n = 39). Findings suggest people may delay having adaptations, because of perceived stigmatising associations with decline and vulnerability. As delaying the installation of home adaptations until crisis point is known to reduce their effectiveness, such associations need to be challenged.

Most adults over 65 years old live in mainstream housing in the United Kingdom, yet these can often be unsuitable for an individual's needs. With increased understanding of the relationship between housing, and health and well‐being, the importance of modifying the home to suit individuals is recognised as being paramount. However, it is often difficult to monitor the ways in which home adaptations and equipment are used in the home. This study used innovative wearable technology to explore everyday, lived experiences of using home adaptations and equipment. Six older adults who had received a major home adaptation in the last 24 months took part in this study. Each participant used a wearable camera for one day and participated in a semi‐structured interview while watching the images back as a ‘slideshow’. Using this novel approach, three themes were generated from the data: acquiring adaptations and equipment, adapting routine and changing behaviour, and inconsistent and unintended uses. The findings of this study open up the complexity of the lived experience of using home adaptations and equipment. Experiences from access to long‐term outcomes are personal, and individuals modify and use the adaptations in various ways to suit their own needs. The wearable camera allowed additional insight into lived experience that would otherwise not have been captured without its use, as the photographs acted as a way of stimulating conversation and highlighting taken‐for‐granted behaviours not often consciously considered by the individuals.

AbstractDespite trust's perceived importance in participatory local governance, very few studies, theoretical and empirical, have devoted attention specifically to understanding their interaction. Focussing on resident participation in urban regeneration, this paper identifies shortcomings in the literature's theoretical grasp of trust. This has led to a trust-participation paradox: some academics have suggested that increasing resident trust in officers, institutions or their community will result in more participation, whilst others have argued that lower trust leads to greater participation. This paper suggests that the key to solving this theoretical quandary is to relinquish the perception of trust as a monolithic concept and recall its context-dependent nature. It proposes several forms of trust which could theoretically impact on residents' willingness to participate in urban regeneration: receptivity trust; ability trust; and representative trust. It concludes with recommendations for future theoretical and empirical research.

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This study explored resident motivations for participation in a housing regeneration project involving demolition. Findings from 19 semi-structured qualitative interviews are drawn upon to argue that resident motivations for participation have previously been oversimplified to focus primarily on the desire to influence a project, without regard for the way local contexts shape motivations. The article concludes that engagement in housing regeneration projects can also be motivated by seeking information narrowly focussed upon the future of one's home, in addition to identities, emotional factors, and a sense that it is residents' responsibility to participate.

The link between housing and health is of increasing importance in the UK policy and practice context, in which poor housing is often accepted as a social determinant of poor health. Service users’ experiences of, and outcomes from, a British information, advice, support and guidance service focused on the relationship between housing problems and health issues were explored. This service facilitates home improvements for privately housed residents with housing issues exacerbating or causing health problems. In-depth interviews with occupants of 15 households which received the service were completed. The findings highlighted three key themes: the need for participants’ person-home fit to reflect and adapt to any degeneration in health conditions; the facilitation of knowledge and access to housing and other support available to them; and perceived positive health and wellbeing outcomes from the receipt of personalised advice and support. The delivery of these outcomes by a named officer of the service team, and the relationship this developed with the service user, are considered within the context of facework, whereby they became a trusted source of guidance in navigating a complex system of assistance. These findings add to the growing knowledge base on housing and health, and also highlight the critical importance of a facework approach in allowing service users to navigate complex systems in order to achieve beneficial outcomes.

A growing older population worldwide means there is a need to ensure there are sufficient housing options to meet a broad spectrum of need and aspiration. There is little understanding of the relative importance of the “pull factors” that might attract older people to relocate to a new environment. Older people's views of the relative level of attractiveness of potential features of a specialist housing development offering care and support were investigated using Q methodology. Forty‐one participants aged 53–89 living in a locality in Northern England rank‐ordered 70 statements from April to August 2016. The analysis revealed four viewpoints: adaptation and care seekers, comprising prioritisation of care provision, specialist accommodation and accessibility; care‐indifferent luxurians, which encompasses attraction to some “luxury” features and less emphasis on care provision; connected separatists, emphasising a distinct environment with good public transport connections; and independent engagers, comprising attraction towards social opportunities and remaining independent. Broad agreement was found on some topics, such as the generally high prioritisation of safety and security. The research provides a deeper understanding of differences in views towards housing options among older people which developers, planners and funders will need to recognise. While providing high‐quality care may be a key objective for some organisations, this may not be the most important concern for some older people contemplating relocation, with many other features considered more attractive.

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