WE-EngAGE (Wellbeing, Engagement, Ageing)

Explores the impact of social leisure engagement on the psychological, cognitive, and physical wellbeing of older adults.

Ageing poses challenges to one’s everyday life due to an increased risk of depression, cognitive decline, and deteriorating physical health, which often interplay with reduced social leisure engagement. Social leisure engagement refers to a person’s voluntary participation in cultural or community activities that include or facilitate social interaction, including activities such as participation in social clubs, exercise groups, volunteering, and arts and cultural engagement. Social leisure engagement is considered a modifiable factor that can support healthy ageing, as it contains multiple active ingredients (components that make up an activity) that can activate various mechanisms which connect social leisure engagement to wellbeing improvements.

WE-EngAGE explores the impact of social leisure engagement on the psychological, cognitive, and physical wellbeing of older adults (aged 55+), seeking to identify ways to increase social leisure engagement.   

Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), this research will answer three main research questions:  

  1. What are the long-term effects of social leisure engagement on older people’s wellbeing? 
  2. Are the associations between engagement and wellbeing universal across different groups of older adults? 
  3. How can we support older adults to engage in social leisure activities? 

Get involved

We are now recruiting research participants! We would like to hear from people aged 55+ and living in the UK to explore if and how you engage with leisure activities.

Learn more here.

Research methods

This project will utilise a mixed-methods approach. Quantitatively, we will analyse two British longitudinal datasets – the National Child Development Study (aka 1958 British Cohort Study) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Qualitatively, we will conduct focus groups with older adults to explore enablers and barriers to social leisure engagement. We will work in partnership with a cross-sector advisory group, including older adults with lived experience and individuals/organisations working across research, practice, and policy to help refine research directions, ensuring impact activities reach wider and more diverse audiences. You can read our blog on how we are refining our research with our advisory group here.

Outcomes

Across a wide range of planned dissemination activities, this project aims to support cross-sector initiatives that allow and encourage older adults to uptake social leisure engagement and, in doing so, support their wellbeing in later life. 

Publications

Gao, Q., Bone, J. K., Finn, S., & Fancourt, D. (2024). The reciprocal associations between social deficits, social engagement, and inflammation: Longitudinal evidence comparing venous blood samples and dried blood spots and mapping the modifying role of phenotypic and genotypic depression. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. [DOI]

Bone, J.K., Noguchi, T., Mak, H.W., Fancourt, D., Kondo, K., Saito, T. (2024). Does arts and cultural group participation influence subsequent wellbeing? A longitudinal cross-country comparison of older adults in Japan and England. BMJ Public Health. [DOI]

Bu, F., Hayes D., Burton A., &Fancourt, D. (2024). Equal, equitable or exacerbating inequalities: patterns and predictors of social prescribing referrals in 160 128 UK patients. BJPsych. [DOI]

Funder

UKRI Ageing Research Development Awards

Programme Area

Behavioural Science, Epidemiology

Status

Ongoing

Principal Investigator

Dr Hei Wan (Karen) Mak

Co-Investigators

Saoirse Finn
Dr Katey Warran, University of Edinburgh
Prof Daisy Fancourt

Researchers

Dr Olivia Turner, University of Edinburgh

Project Support

Alexandra Bradbury
Dr Aadhiya Tulsi

Partners

University of Edinburgh

Timescales

2023-2025

Key Contact

hei.mak@ucl.ac.uk

Advisory Group

Prof Helen Chatterjee (UCL & UKRI Health Disparities and Mobilising Community Assets Lead); Michael Cheung (Lived Experience Researcher); Anjie Chhapia (Lived Experience Researcher); Beverley Chipp (Lived Experience Researcher); Dr Bogdan Chiva Giurca (National Academy for Social Prescribing); Rosie Dow (Arts and Health Consultant); Dr Robyn Dowlen (University of Manchester & Chair of the British Society of Gerontology Creative Ageing SIG); Jackie Hardy (Lived Experience Researcher); Stephen Jeffreys (Lived Experience Researcher); Dr Harriet Radermacher (u3a – University of the Third Age); Martin Robertson (Lived Experience Researcher); Janet Seale (Lived Experience Researcher); Sudhir Shah (Lived Experience Researcher); Prof Andrew Steptoe (PI of ELSA, UCL); and Dr Liz Thackray (u3a – University of the Third Age)