The number of older people funding their care has increased in the context of transformations in statutory social care, the impact of austerity and successive cuts to social care funding. There is little research on self-funded care, despite its significance to policy and practice and older people’s perspectives are marginalized in policy and practice.
This three-site study takes an innovative approach to researching self-funding through ‘co-production’ with older people and knowledge exchange with key stakeholders. By co-production we mean: (1) knowledge rooted in older people’s experiences that is (2) generated through a research process involving older co-researchers at all stages which is then (3) brought into dialogue with commissioners, service providers and practitioners in knowledge exchange groups.
This presentation will present emergent findings from three interviews carried out with older people over an eighteen-month period. The findings highlight the complexities surrounding securing self-funded care and the range of experiences older people report in managing their own care.