The Age of Supported Independence : Voices of In-home Care

This book investigates the experiences of older people who remain at home with care. It examines the transition points for the important life changes faced by family members who take on a greater care-giving role. The book draws on demographic analyses and qualitative fieldwork to explore the shift from independence to increasing dependence, and suggests that this transition constitutes movement into a new stage of life, that of an Age of Supported Independence. Applying the anthropological concept of rites of passage in their analysis, the authors focus on the changes in everyday living within the spatial environment of the home, the temporal organization of daily life, and the reshaping of relationships. They suggest that many older people – as well as the family members who become carers – remain in a state of ‘liminality’: unable to make sense of their new situation and experience and, despite assumptions that ageing-in-place sustains social connectedness, excluded from their communities. Front Matter....Pages i-xxi The Demographic and Policy Context of Supported Independence in Later Life....Pages 1-12 The Move from Independence....Pages 13-28 Space and Liminality....Pages 29-43 Temporality and Liminality....Pages 45-59 Relational Transitions....Pages 61-77 Separation, Liminality and the Potential for Reconnections at Home with Care....Pages 79-92 Care Work and Reconnections....Pages 93-108 Reconnections—Supported Independence and Agency in Frailty....Pages 109-123 Back Matter....Pages 125-131 Investigates the experiences of older people who remain at home with care. This book examines the transition points for the life changes faced by family members who take on a greater care-giving role. It explores the shift from independence to increasing dependence, and suggests that this transition constitutes movement into another stage of life This book examines the experiences of older people who remain at home with care. It discusses life changes faced by family members who take on a greater care-giving role, and suggests that this constitutes a new stage of life, an Age of Supported Independence.