Andrew has experience of mostly qualitative, mixed method and realist research approaches. Andrew's main research interests are in and often cut across social gerontology, dementia, specialist housing, welfare reform and wider health and social care policy. He has a particularly long-standing interest on the impact of welfare, social and public policy reform on older people, with a particular interest in marketisation policies, choice and decision-making across health, social care and housing.

Dr Andrew Harding is a social scientist and Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University. His primary research interest is on information-giving practices of formal health and social services relating to ageing. Prior to his role at Lancaster University, Andrew worked at the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences at Bournemouth University, where he completed his PhD in the area of information-giving – a realist evaluation of a telephone housing options service relating to specialist housing for older people.

Andrew is currently working on:

- mySupport study, which assesses the impact of an informational intervention that supports care home staff and family carers to make best interest decisions about relatives with advanced dementia [Funder: JPND/Alzheimer's Society].

- Necessary Conversations [co-applicant], which seeks to develop an informational online advance care planning approach in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic [Funder: ESRC]. 

- Palliative Sedation, which explores the role of palliative sedation in practice across Europe [Funder: EU Horizon2020].

In a previous role, Andrew was part of a multi-disciplinary team that developed a core outcome set for non-pharmacological and community based health and social care programmes for people with dementia living at home. This work was part of the ESRC/NIHR Neighbourhoods and Dementia programme (2014-2019), funded as a part of the Prime Minister’s 2012 Challenge on Dementia.

Andrew's research experience has mostly involved qualitative and mixed methods approaches with older people. The work he has been a part of is published and cited across social/health policy, medical journals and policy reports/working papers. He has also presented at national and international conferences. Andrew is an active reviewer for journals and funding agencies. He is an active peer reviewer for The Journal of Public Health; Dementia; Housing, Care and Support; Evaluation; Journal of Social Policy; PLOS One; BMJ Open; BMC Health Services Research; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry; International Psychogeriatrics; Clinical Interventions in Aging and has reviewed funding proposals for the NIHR RfPB and Dunhill Medical Trust.