ORIGINAL ARTICLE Partnership research with older people – moving towards making the rhetoric a reality Jan Reed RN PhD Professor of Health Care for Older People, Centre for Care of Older People, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK Robert Weiner BA (Hons) Pre-Retirement Association, Centre for Care of Older People, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK Glenda Cook RN BSc MSc Centre for Care of Older People, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK Submitted for publication: 16 October 2003 Accepted for publication: 12 January 2004 Correspondence: Jan Reed Professor of Health Care for Older People Centre for Care of Older People Northumbria University Coach Lane East Newcastle NE7 7XA UK Telephone: 0191 215 6142 E-mail: jan.reed@unn.ac.uk REED J., WEINER R. & COOK G. (2004) REED J., WEINER R. & COOK G. (2004) International Journal of Older People Nursing in association with Journal of Clinical Nursing 13, 3a, 3–10 Partnership research with older people – moving towards making the rhetoric a reality As nursing develops closer partnerships with older people in delivering care, it also needs to develop partnerships in order to create the knowledge base for practice in a way that challenges professional hegemony and empowers older people. However, the process of developing partnerships in research takes place against a background of academic research traditions and norms, which can present obstacles to colla- boration. This paper is a reflection on the issues that have arisen in three projects where older people were involved in research at different levels, from sources of data to independent researchers. It points to some of the areas that need further explo- ration and development. Key words: collaboration, empowerment, knowledge, partnership research Introduction In line with other helping professions, nursing, midwifery and health visiting have moved from traditional views of technical expertise as the prime shaper of health care, to a more equal relationship with service users and carers which respects their expertise, knowledge, goals and choices. In nursing, this approach can be traced back to early debates about individualizing care through the development of the nursing process, named nurse systems and primary nursing, all of which were based on the recognition that patients should be at the centre of care. This development has not been without problems (Reed, 1992) and has raised questions about the processes and mechanisms for involvement. Nonetheless it is a move which has included nursing for older people, despite, as McCormack (2003a) has pointed out, some attitudes and expectations from nurses, older people and wider society are not always encouraging. These attitudes and assumptions are based on stereotypes of older people as passive and uncritical recipients of care, and work with them as a low-status activity which is not valued or prioritized in society. In health care, these negative attitudes may come from medical models of ageing which view the older person as undergoing inevitable physical decline, which makes effort spent on them less rewarding than time spent on younger people (Koch & Webb, 1996). Alongside this increasing involvement of older people in shaping the nursing care that they receive, is a parallel move towards involving them in developing the knowledge base of nursing, through increased participation and partnership in research. One of the key foundations of this development is the changing view of older people as consumers of services Ó 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 3