The impact of Covid-19 on giving and receiving care at home
Research is currently underway into how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on different people’s experiences of care at home.
Dr Rosie Read, a researcher in Sociology and Social Anthropology at Bournemouth University, received funding from the British Academy to undertake this study.
This research will investigate care giving and receiving amongst domiciliary care workers, family carers, volunteers who have supported people to remain at home during the pandemic, and people who receive care, bringing together into a single frame the experiences of people who are usually studied separately.
Dr Read explained, “The UK Covid-19 lockdown and ongoing social distancing has increased the pressure to give and receive care at home in many areas of life.”
“This has brought additional pressures for home care providers, carers, and volunteer services for people at home provided by charities and non-profits - all sectors which, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, were already financially stretched and operationally disconnected from each other.”
Using in depth semi-structured interviews and documentary research, this study aims to stimulate dialogue about future cooperation between these different forms of home-based care.
Dr Read has previously conducted extensive research on both waged and unwaged care work in the UK and the Czech Republic. More recently, her research examined how social care employers assess the impact of Brexit on the social care work force in the south-west of England.
Find out more about Dr Rosie Read and her previous research publications on the BU staff profiles website.
