My home my life: experiences of minority older Bangladeshi communities in East London

Brick Lane street sign (in English and Bengali)

Dr Manik Gopinath, Lecturer in Ageing, with WELS’ School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, has received a funding award from Dunhill Medical Trust to explore living conditions among older Bangladeshi communities in East London.

The award of just under £280,000 will enable the ‘Amar Bari Amar Jibon’ [my home my life] project to collate evidence with older adults and their families in Bangladeshi communities in East London about their current living conditions and the effect this has on their wellbeing including their aspirations and expectations regarding suitable living environments. The OU team will partner with Bangla Housing Association and Housing LIN on what Dr Gopinath says is a timely piece of work.

“Minority Bangladeshi older communities in East London experience entrenched housing and health inequalities”, says Dr Gopinath “This study will contribute to a better understanding of the lived experiences and housing/living environments of Bangladeshi ‘probin’ (Bangladeshi elders) and their families. More broadly, findings will add to an emerging discussion about inter- and multigenerational living arrangements and preferences and related housing choices and constraints.”

Informing a more nuanced approach to cultural housing preferences

The project team, which includes Honorary Research Fellow Dr Caroline Holland and Emeritus Professor Sheila Peace, aims for the outcomes of this research to feed into national and local policy. They hope it will inform local and metropolitan practitioner networks and decision-makers, local authorities and mainstream and specialist housing associations about taking a more nuanced approach to cultural housing preferences and multigenerational family living.

Logo of the Amar Bari Amar Jibon project shows a green (graphic) house next to a lighter green one, with one person in each and the name of the project in Bengali and English. Dr Gopinath is Co-Lead of CABS, the Centre for Ageing and Biographical Studies Research Group at The Open University. Her work includes an investigation into how older couples sustain relationships when living apart through care home move separation, and a sustained interest in environments for ageing and living well.