“It can’t really be answered in an information pack…”: A realist evaluation of a telephone housing options service for older people.

Abstract

Despite calls for better support to aid older people’s decision-making about housing options, two recent literature reviews highlight a paucity of research on the efficacy of such services. This paper reports a qualitative realist evaluation on the efficacy of a UK telephone service providing information to older people concerning specialist housing. The findings of 31 realist interviews with 16 older people are presented. Information provided to social tenants did not add much to what people already knew as social tenants tended to be familiar and knowledgeable about housing options available to them. Information seekers in mainstream housing (typically owner-occupiers), who were less familiar with housing options than social tenants, remained uncertain about their housing issues and tended to desire more substantive discussion and deliberation to become more informed. Information was considered too ‘light touch’, although the widely recognised lack of accessible housing options and reports of non-transparent and unresponsive market practices were also key factors. This study underlines the widely acknowledged need to increase the supply of specialist housing, and in the current UK context recommends that housing options support for older people be more substantive – particularly for those residing in mainstream housing.