Institutional Life Course & Societal Contexts

The life course is influenced by the social and bureaucratic institutions and structures that are within our society. Institutions and systems are often organised in a way that mitigates against a life course approach. Policies and practices can shape the roles available to different groups of people, and therefore, influence the opportunities and choices that we have at different points in our lives.

Moreover, these institutions and structures can influence our health and well-being, whether this is in relation to, for instance, the provision of free services for people of a certain age or the availability of respite services for family carers. By exploring the life course as a product of policies and practices, and the underlying values and norms that they represent, we can identify elements of the life course that are created and enforced by our own society.

In this work, society is integral to our understanding of the life course. This is in terms of how society, as an organised pattern of relationships, can give rise to different institutions and values that impact on how our lives develop. It is also closely intertwined with how society represents a set of multiple sets stakeholders that need to be engaged with, given their role in shaping those institutions and values.

Many use an ecological perspective to capture the dimensions from micro to macro. A number of themes relate to this area and cut across our related life course themes.

Illustrative projects demonstrating the Institutional Life Course include:

PREPARED: This project supports the next generation of disability rights researchers to develop inclusive responses to global challenges and crises
Service Involvement and Lived Experience Study (SILE): This project explores how people from marginalised groups can be better involved in the design and delivery of health and social care services
Ageing, Homelessness and Environments for Access and Disability (AHEAD): This project explores how accessibility and inclusion can be improved for older people, supporting more inclusive communities and environments
Engaged Research for Policy Impact: This project explores how researchers and policymakers can work together to strengthen the impact of research on policy and practice
DAISIE: This project investigates the impacts of extended working life policies on older workers across countries and in specific occupations
Older Traveller Older Homeless Study: The aim of this project is to investigate life-course and structural determinants of positive subjective health amongst older traveller and older homeless people
UN Women Project: The aim of this project is to address the justice gap faced by women with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities in the Asia-Pacific region