Abstract

The number of older people paying for social care from their own resources has increased considerably. This is because of changes in the way local authorities organise statutory social care and the impact of public funding cuts to social care and the related tightening of eligbility criteria for publically funded social care. Despite the increase in numbers of older people who self-fund, very little is known about their experiences and their voices are largely absent in policy and practice debates. Our project focuses on the experiences of older people who are self-funding their care in three research sites: Brighton and Hove, Solihull and Lincolnshire.