Ageing in extra-care housing: preparation, persistence and self-management at the boundary between the third and fourth age

Eleanor K. Johnson,Teresa Atkinson,Jeremy Porteus,Randall Smith,Liz Lloyd,Robin Darton,Simon Evans,Ailsa Cameron

doi:10.1017/s0144686x19000849

Eleanor K. Johnson, Teresa Atkinson + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x19000849

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Abstract

AbstractExtra-care housing (ECH) has been hailed as a potential solution to some of the problems associated with traditional forms of social care, since it allows older people to live independently, while also having access to care and support if required. However, little longitudinal research has focused on the experiences of residents living in ECH, particularly in recent years. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of four ECH schemes in the United Kingdom. Older residents living in ECH were interviewed four times over a two-year period to examine how changes in their care needs were encountered and negotiated by care workers, managers and residents themselves. This paper focuses on how residents managed their own changing care needs within the context of ECH. Drawing upon theories of the third and fourth age, the paper makes two arguments. First, that transitions across the boundary between the third and fourth age are not always straightforward or irreversible and, moreover, can sometimes be resisted, planned-for and managed by older people. Second, that operational practices within ECH schemes can function to facilitate or impede residents’ attempts to manage this boundary.

Highlights

Whilst it is undeniable that the United Kingdom’s (UK) population is ageing, there has been some disagreement as to whether improvements in longevity have been matched with improvements in, what the European Health Expectancy Monitoring Unit terms, ‘healthy life years’. Kingston et al (2017) note that a transformation in life expectancy has brought with it two somewhat disparate shifts, whereby a greater number of people are remaining independent for longer but, a greater number of people are experiencing care needs and for a longer periodDownloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core
Since the focus of this paper is on how residents managed their changing care needs within the context of Extra-care housing (ECH), we draw upon the in-depth, longitudinal interviews which were carried out with ECH residents on four occasions over the 20 months during which we visited the four schemes
The findings discussed below are drawn from data obtained through interviews with residents in the four ECH schemes that participated in the ECHO project

Summary

Introduction

Whilst it is undeniable that the United Kingdom’s (UK) population is ageing, there has been some disagreement as to whether improvements in longevity have been matched with improvements in, what the European Health Expectancy Monitoring Unit terms, ‘healthy life years’. Kingston et al (2017) note that a transformation in life expectancy has brought with it two somewhat disparate shifts, whereby a greater number of people are remaining independent for longer but, a greater number of people are experiencing care needs and for a longer period. Debates about the provision and affordability of both housing and care for those over the age of 65 have become key features of social policy internationally (Pynoos, 2018)

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