Using non-representational theory to explore older people’s travel to and from the supermarket

Waight, Emma and Yin, Yuanyuan (2021) Using non-representational theory to explore older people’s travel to and from the supermarket. Mobilities, 16 (4), 537-552. (doi:10.1080/17450101.2021.1889753).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article presents non-representational theory as a methodological approach to illuminate the lived experiences of older people’s everyday mobilities using the example of travel to and from the supermarket. Previous studies have explored older people’s everyday mobilities and highlighted a number of challenges, but few studies address specific journeys, such as grocery shopping, and none empirically engage with non-representational theory. In this article we draw on a qualitative research study with participants over the age of 65 living in the UK as we investigate their journeys to and from the supermarket. We present three vignettes/personas of individuals with differing needs and experiences. and find that their grocery shopping journeys are not just about procuring food but also sociomaterial events that both affect, and are affected by, bodily capabilities and mental wellbeing. We conclude with some recommendations for designing older people’s local travel experiences and argue for non-representational theory as a method for accessing the socio-material world in which everyday mobilities play out.

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Using non-representational theory to explore older people’s travel to and from the supermarket -accepted - Accepted Manuscript

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Accepted/In Press date: 4 February 2021

e-pub ahead of print date: 24 February 2021

Published date: 4 July 2021

Additional Information: Funding Information: This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant Ref: ES/K009648/1) hosted by the University of Southampton (PI Dr. Yuanyuan Yin). We wish to thank all of the participants who generously gave their time to this research and gratefully acknowledge the support of Age Concern Christchurch, Age UK Northumberland, and Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin. We wish to thank Sainsbury?s for their cooperation and for providing the participants with shopping vouchers. Finally, we are very grateful for the carefully considered comments and suggestions made by the anonymous reviewers on earlier drafts of this article, thank you. Disclosure statement: The authors report no conflict of interest. Data availability statement: Data deposited in the UK Data Service 853083 https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=853083 Funding Information: This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant Ref: ES/K009648/1) hosted by the University of Southampton (PI Dr. Yuanyuan Yin). We wish to thank all of the participants who generously gave their time to this research and gratefully acknowledge the support of Age Concern Christchurch, Age UK Northumberland, and Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin. We wish to thank Sainsbury’s for their cooperation and for providing the participants with shopping vouchers. Finally, we are very grateful for the carefully considered comments and suggestions made by the anonymous reviewers on earlier drafts of this article, thank you. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords: Ageing, NRT, grocery shopping, mobility, senior, travel