How do neighbourhood deprivation and neighbourhood mixing affect mental wellbeing among older adults? A longitudinal cross-country comparison between

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How do neighbourhood deprivation and neighbourhood mixing affect mental wellbeing among older adults? A longitudinal cross-country comparison between Ireland and England.Living in a deprived area contributes to poor mental health and accelerates the effects of ageing. This may be due to the deprivation of the neighbourhood, independent of the socioeconomic status of the individual. Neighbourhood mixing (economically and socially) may also have an impact, due to weakened social cohesion or comparisons of relative position, or better mental wellbeing, due to a wider range of opportunities for the most disadvantaged. Older people tend to spend more time in their neighbourhood and to have lived in the same area for longer, so they may be more vulnerable to the effects of neighbourhood deprivation and neighbourhood mixing as accumulated during the life course.This study will add to a growing body of research relating to neighbourhood effects and the mental wellbeing of older adults, and particularly the processes involved in how neighbourhood deprivation and mixing affect individual outcomes. This study seeks to improve our understanding of the mechanisms relating neighbourhood deprivation, measured by rates of low education, unemployment and crime, and neighbourhood mixing, measured by wealth inequality and ethnic diversity, to mental health and wellbeing. This study will extend the evidence base by performing a cross-country comparison between older adults in England and Ireland, as few cross-country comparisons in this area have been conducted. Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) will be used to conduct a multilevel, longitudinal, cross-country comparison of the effects of neighbourhood characteristics on the mental wellbeing of adults aged 50 and older. This will contribute to academic evidence that will inform policy regarding the effect on neighbourhood on individuals, particularly in relation to social housing and services to assist older people living in deprivation. This is key given the increased level of income equality and ethnic diversity in both England and Ireland over the past 30 years.