Critical Research is proud to have worked with Age UK for over 15 years, with most projects focused on providing information and advice, a key component of Age UK’s services.
Age UK’s Advice Line is a free, confidential national telephone service for older people, their families, friends, carers, and professionals. Since 2021 we have talked to callers to the Age UK Advice Line as part of an ongoing survey, recording people’s experiences of the service and the impact of the support they have received. The fieldwork research also seeks to understand how people’s experience of the Advice Line may impact Age UK brand perceptions.
The Critical interviewing team in our Watford centre conducts a 15-minute quantitative telephone survey with those who have called the Advice Line, supplemented with follow-up calls a month or so later to measure the impact of the information and advice they received. The impact survey includes any financial implications, how the support has impacted their mental and physical health and wellbeing, and less tangible but important measures such as empowering people by giving them a clearer understanding of their rights and feeling more in control of their situation. We also conduct a small number of qualitative journey mapping interviews each wave to delve deeper into callers’ experiences of the service and the issues that first prompted them to contact Age UK.
What always amazes us is the sheer variety of issues the Age UK Advice Line advisors face – from navigating complex benefits application forms to providing support and advice on emotive issues such as residential care – yet the comprehensive training Age UK provides means that advisors are well-equipped to help. Whilst we regularly record satisfaction scores of 90% or higher Age UK needs to monitor satisfaction with the Advice Line to maintain the high standards and assess the impact of any new initiatives. The journey maps provide additional context and stories which are invaluable in understanding issues from a caller’s perspective, helping the Age UK team understand the role they can play and the impact they have.
“Critical are a longstanding partner, enabling us to derive actionable insights from our regular qualitative and quantitative evaluation of our national Advice Line service, contributing to our continuous service improvements. The Critical team are also able to combine their sector expertise with their understanding of Age UK and our services that they’ve built up over the last 15 years, supporting us to refine the research which allows us to demonstrate how we are performing against our aims and objectives.” Alasdair Stewart, Director of National Services
A telling statistic from the most recent wave of the research is that Age UK was the first port of call for almost three-quarters (73%) of callers when seeking help about their particular issue, underlining how vital the Age UK Advice Line service is.
Critical Research works with a range of different charities including Age UK, the British Red Cross, the RSPB, the Woodland Trust, and Operation Smile. The research we conduct includes brand tracking, communications and message testing, membership/ supporter journey insights, and evaluation of services provided by charities.
Please contact Sarah Connis or Nick Williams for more information about research in the charity sector.
