A ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’ to Caring for an Older Person Before and During Coronavirus-19

The coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) has reconfigured working lives with astonishing velocity. Older people have suffered the worst effects of the pandemic, with governments marginalising or overlooking their needs. Women perform the majority of care for older people, often compromising their working lives and health. Yet in academic articles their voices are often filtered or aggregated in quantitative studies. Based on a weave of personal experiences and secondary research, the paper traces a path through UK forms of care and shows how the inadequate response to COVID-19 stemmed from existing policies embedded in health and social care. COVID-19 has severed important informal care work, rendering the vulnerable yet more exposed and carers anxious and bereft. Longitudinal research capturing the trajectory of care from the perspective of older people and their carers would lead to improved support hence gender equality.