Ethical issues in self-funded social care: co-producing knowledge with older people

The number of older people funding their own care has increased. This is due to transformations in statutory social care, the impact of austerity, and cuts to social care funding. There is little research on self-funded care, despite its significance to policy and practice. 

Through ‘co-production’ with older people and knowledge exchange with key stakeholders, this study will take an innovative approach to researching self-funding. Involving collaborations between academics, social care commissioners, providers, practitioners and older people in three research sites, it will illuminate ethical dimensions of self-funded care and bring older people’s lived experiences to the fore.