Abstract
Reporting on a longitudinal study of older people living in four extra care housing (ECH) schemes in the UK, this paper explores how residents negotiated their changing care needs within the context of ECH. Drawing upon theories of the third and fourth age, this paper makes two key arguments. First, that transitions across the boundary between the third and fourth age are not always straightforward or irreversible and, moreover, can sometimes be planned-for, resisted, and managed by older people. Second, institutional practices within ECH schemes can function to facilitate or impede residents’ attempts to manage these transitions. I consider these findings within the context of current debates about what extra care housing is, who it is for, and whether it can be considered a viable “home for life.”
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2018 Special Focus: Aging, Health, Well-Being, and Care in a Time of Extreme Demographic Change
KEYWORDS
Social Care
