Understanding the Social Care Crisis in England Through Older People’s Lived Experiences

Abstract

How is knowledge about care produced? The ‘epistemological dimension’ of care is recognised in the concept of ‘responsiveness’ in which attention to the care-receiver’s experience informs the care process at the micro level. What counts as ‘knowledge’ about care in political processes is also highly significant yet a further dimension of exclusion from participation operates here. Most knowledge about care is produced without the inclusion of care-receivers and without regard to their lived experiences of care. This chapter explores this using empirical research that was co-produced with older people about lived experiences of care within the English social care system. Within the current neoliberal context, measurement-based knowledge is more highly valued and recognised. The lived experiences of care under neoliberalism directly challenge the assumptions underpinning the consumer choice rationale of the marketisation of care. The authors argue that building knowledge based on the lived experiences of care with those who have direct experience is necessary for ‘caring democracy’. The chapter is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.