Cradle to grave? Situating care and ageing within austere Britain.

Cradle to grave? Situating care and ageing within austere Britain.

Harback will explore changes to caring relationships in the UK in the context of an ageing society -- at a range of scales, with the ultimate aim of weaving them into a single, more holistic model which not only extends theoretical approaches to care and ageing, but can also be used to better inform future discussions about present and future societal change in the UK.


This project aims to identify and analyse continuities and discontinuities in how UK society cares for its elderly, in the context of new pressures from population ageing and shrinking welfare budgets. It will have a strong geographical focus, exploring emerging spaces (including the home, local community, online), places (hospices) and relationships of care (young -> old; old -> old; old -> young) and considering their implications for the sustainability of elderly care provision in the UK and the long-term position of older people within society. There are many spaces and forms of elderly care across the UK, however, Harbach will focus on the provision of care in and by hospices as the case study which will underpin this project.