Take part in our research

Join our research project and have your say about influences on mid-life women’s drinking. 

One in five mid-life women drink alcohol at levels that may increase health harms, but existing research about the influences on drinking for mid-life women is limited. Researchers at Oxford Brookes University want to bridge this important research gap and find out more about how to help mid-life women who would like to drink less. 

 Building upon our previous research, our current project will develop a novel self-directed tool called SPACES (Storytelling Promoting Alcohol Choice, Empowerment, and Sharing). This project has been funded by the Medical Research Council. 

 Concerns about being judged often hinders women from seeking support to reduce alcohol consumption. The SPACES project aims to address this challenge by integrating storytelling techniques with evidence-based behaviour change strategies that are tailored to mid-life women. Storytelling is a powerful means of communication that resonates with all of us on a human level. Using this to help support behaviour change may offer a more relatable approach to addressing alcohol consumption than existing tools.

 How can I get involved? 

We are inviting women aged 40-65 to share their views in our research studies. We are interested in hearing your views if you currently drink alcohol regularly or you used to drink alcohol in the recent past (up to two years ago), but no longer do so.

 There are two ways you could be involved at the moment, with more opportunities in the future. 

1. Join a focus group in November or December 2024 to give your feedback on our research findings so far. 

2. Join a storytelling workshop in February or March 2025. Participants will work with other women in a group to create stories to share in the SPACES tool. Stories can be based on your own experiences, or be fictional. 

To find out more, please email spacesproject@brookes.ac.uk.  We will send you further details so that you can decide if you want to take part but there is no obligation to do so. People who do take part will be offered a shopping voucher to thank them for their time.

Our research team includes women aged 40 to 65 years who themselves drink alcohol, and/or have experiences of making changes to their drinking. We would like to reassure you that we are here to listen and learn from you and your experiences. Our project involves collaboration and co-design with a public advisory group of mid-life women with lived experience.  We want this research to be shaped by the people who will be using the outputs from the SPACES project.