Fifty-five years of research into older people's civic participation: Recent trends, future directions

Abstract

Background and objectives: This study analyzes critically existing knowledge concerning older people’s civic participation, pinpoints gaps in the literature, and proposes new directions for research. Research design and methods: We conducted a scoping review of literature on older people’s civic participation. To conduct this review, we followed the 5-step framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley (Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Method. 2005; 8: 19–32), and expanded by Levac and colleagues (Levac D, Colquhoun H, O’Brien KK. Scoping studies: Advancing the methodology. Implement Sci. 2010; 5: 69). Results: Research into older people’s civic participation has grown steadily over the past 55 years. However, the increasing number of publications mainly concerns collective forms of social participation, particularly volunteering, with other types of participation being more stable over time. Contextual as well as dynamic aspects of civic participation remain underdeveloped. Diversity of older people is scarcely represented in current research. Discussion and implications: This scoping review identifies 4 critical gaps in the literature that should be at the forefront of future research. These are classified as conceptual, contextual, processual, and diverse aspects of research into older people’s civic participation.