Carers, Care Homes and the British Media : Time to Care

This book focuses on the relationship between the media and those who work as paid care assistants in care homes in Britain. It explores this relationship in terms of the contemporary cultural and personal understandings of care work and care homes that have developed as the role has emerged as increasingly socially and economically significant in society. Three strands of analysis are integrated: an examination of the representations of paid care workers in the British media; the experiences of current and former care workers; and the autoethnographic reflections of the authors who have experiences of working as care assistants. The book offers a rich contextual and experiential account of the responsibilities, challenges, and emotions of care work in British society. Grist and Jennings make a case for the need to better value and more accurately represent care work in contemporary media accounts. Preface 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 10 Chapter 1: Introduction 11 Introduction 11 Why Care Homes? 14 Who Cares? 16 Methodological Approach 17 Structure of the Book 20 References 22 Chapter 2: Autoethnographies of Care 27 Introduction 27 Hannah’s Autoethnography 28 The Interview and Getting into Care, or ‘Hold these, love’ 28 Washing, Dressing, Shaving, or the Importance of Being on Time for Breakfast 29 Care Home Role Models, or Not All Heroes Wear Capes 33 The Challenge of Being Myself 35 Reflections on Watching Panorama 36 Leaving Care Work 37 Ros’ Autoethnography 38 Suited to Caring? 38 Training: What Training? 40 Doing Dirty Work 41 The Effects/Affects of Time 42 Living a Double Life 44 Conclusion 46 References 47 Chapter 3: Little More Than Fools and Monsters: Care Workers in the UK Media 49 Introduction 50 Carers, Care Homes and the News as a Negative Memory Sphere 51 Waiting for God 53 Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War 58 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 61 Panorama’s Behind Closed Doors: Elderly Care Exposed 63 Grandpa’s Great Escape 65 Conclusion 69 References 70 Chapter 4: Conversations with Carers 74 ‘It’s hardly for the money, is it?’: Motivations for ‘Doing’ Paid Care 75 Remembering Good and Bad Care 80 ‘I’m buying a shotgun!’: Avoiding the Care Home in Old Age 89 Seeing Ourselves on Screen: Media Representations of Carers and Care Homes 95 Conclusion 100 References 102 Chapter 5: Concluding Thoughts 108 Introduction 108 Time to Care 109 The Legacy of Media Representations of Care Work and Care Homes 111 Looking to the Future: Implications for Policy and Practice 112 References 115 Index 118 Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction (Hannah Grist, Ros Jennings)....Pages 1-16 Autoethnographies of Care (Hannah Grist, Ros Jennings)....Pages 17-38 Little More Than Fools and Monsters: Care Workers in the UK Media (Hannah Grist, Ros Jennings)....Pages 39-63 Conversations with Carers (Hannah Grist, Ros Jennings)....Pages 65-98 Concluding Thoughts (Hannah Grist, Ros Jennings)....Pages 99-108 Back Matter ....Pages 109-112