• By 2030, there will be a 60% increase in the number of individuals with caring responsibilities in the UK. This shift in the kind of work that we will be doing will require not just new funding arrangements but also robust infrastructure and working conditions.

• In this paper, we propose a network of Long Term Care Centres (LTCCs) that can form a key part of the new ‘caring economy’ that delivers for those that need care and those providing it.

• These centres would:

+ Separate acute care and long term care.

+ Demedicalise the home.

+ Bring different forms of care into one place, growing cooperative care and supporting migrant care-workers.

• We provide a set of high quality prototype illustrations of what Long Term Care Centres could deliver in terms of space and service.

Authors:

Francesca Farruggia

Stavros Oikonomidis

Julian Siravo

Will Stronge, Director of Research at Autonomy, said:

“Our plan for Long Term Care Centres aims to break the isolation in which caring responsibilities currently take place by creating a space for communities to co-create their health along with care professionals and public health services.

“Care centre’s in the UK today are too often depressing and uninspiring places where no one would desire to visit.

“With an ageing population, the government are going to have to spend more money on care so they should invest in a plan to make care centres places where elderly people can live with dignity.”

This research was supported by the Alex Ferry Foundation.