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This summer, I had the opportunity to complete a three-month research internship with the Aging in the Right Place (AIRP) Partnership at 天美mv天美鈥檚 Department of Gerontology. Having just finished my bachelor鈥檚 degree in psychology in Germany, this internship provided me with an exciting opportunity to deepen my research experience while contributing to an important project that examines housing, aging and wellbeing.

Among the many experiences I had during my internship, the most memorable was a Digital Storytelling Project in which older adults with lived experience of homelessness shared their personal stories. We captured these narratives in a video, since digital storytelling is about telling a biography 鈥渢hrough sound, image and music鈥� (Pecorini, 2017). The process was co-creative, involving home visits, in-depth interviews and time spent alongside participants in their daily environments. The digital storytelling method is more than just a creative exercise, it can be a powerful tool for advocacy and recognition. As Mahmood et al. (2024) emphasize, 鈥淒igital Storytelling methods have the transformative potential to amplify the voices of marginalized older adults, highlighting their unique housing experiences and advocating for inclusive policy measures that prioritize their diverse needs.鈥� In this way, the project not only honored participants鈥� lived experiences but also contributed to broader conversations around housing justice and aging in the right place.

I still remember a participant sharing that he once fell and likely would not have survived if a neighbour hadn鈥檛 noticed and called for help (Participant 1). His story highlighted the importance of strong community ties. Listening to these narratives reminded me that housing is not just about shelter, it is about safety, accessibility, and belonging. As the participant explained, 鈥淵ou had to know your neighbours and be involved with each other.鈥�  His words reflected how essential social connections are to aging in the right place.

This internship reinforced my understanding of community-engaged research as an essential approach to housing insecurity. By creating space for participants to tell their own stories, research becomes not just about people but also with them. 

From a methodological standpoint, this research highlights the significance of qualitative approaches in complementing quantitative methods. While quantitative data can establish patterns across populations, qualitative research captures the lived realities behind these patterns, providing context and depth (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017). Employing these approaches offers a more comprehensive understanding of housing insecurity and its impact on aging. The lived expertise of participants is necessary to achieve such a holistic understanding (Wilkens et al., 2023).

Overall, my internship with the AIRP Partnership has been an incredibly valuable experience, both professionally and personally. It taught me the importance of listening, of qualitative insights, and of giving participants the space to co-shape the stories that inform policy and practice. I am grateful to have learned from such a dedicated team and to have contributed to research that highlights the voices of those most affected by housing insecurity.

References

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage Publications.

Mahmood, A., Hosseini, S. H., Nanjiba, N., Fan, J., & Canham, S. (2024). Amplifying voices: Digital storytelling to explore aging in the right place with housing precarious older adults. Innovation in Aging, 8(Supplement_1), 292-292.

Pecorini, B. C., & Duplaa, E. (2017). Narrative gerontology and digital storytelling: What benefits for elders. MOJ Public Health, 6(6), 00192.

Wilkins, C. H., Miller, S. T., Richmond, A. N., & Carrasquillo, O. (2023). Community-engaged research鈥攅ssential to addressing health inequities. New England Journal of Medicine, 389(21), 1928-1931.