Researcher wants to hear women’s experiences of life on an island

Dr Alison Herbert, a research affiliate at the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, has five potential interviewees lined up, but needs another five at least.

Restrictions permitting, she intends visiting the Outer Hebrides for around a week in October to carry out some social science research on the theme of ‘rural place, ageing and quality of life among mid-life women’.

Dr Herbert said: “I need to secure some participants from any of the Outer Hebrides islands. I am looking for some women of roughly 45-65 years of age, from all sorts of backgrounds – single, married, divorced, widowed, working, not working, native to area, in-migrant.

“I would interview each woman in private for around about 90 minutes, audio-taped to gain their perspectives in ageing on a remote, rural location.

“I would interview each woman either in her own home or at a neutral location to suit. At all times, interviews will follow the relevant government guidelines on health and safety to prevent the spread of Covid-19.”

All data will be confidential and will be used for her research purposes only, leading to the publication of an academic paper in which she will compare findings from the Hebridean islands to those already gathered in rural Ireland and rural Sweden.

Any women interested in helping Dr Herbert can contact her by emailing [email protected]