Anne-Martin Matthews of the Institute of Aging at the University of British Colombia delivered a key note address at the British Society of Gerontology conference on the issue of how care workers, care recipients and their relatives experience and organise time as a function of home care. The address was based on a study of 180 care workers, 83 recipients and 56 relatives of recipients in Canada.

She argued that care practice witnesses the compression of time. Things like travelling, irrational scheduling, the impact of frailty, and the need to train new workers all help to minimise the time available to deliver care. Workers and clients have developed a series of ‘time tactics’ to overcome compression, such as adapting the home or behaviour, clients preparing for a care visit in advance, enlisting the help of relatives or recipients themselves in delivering care, prioritising tasks, or simply accepting the reality of time compression.
 
Yet while individuals can adapt to time constraints, it is clear that vital duties are not being performed. Workers often report that they do have enough time to carry out their allocated tasks – but they do not have time to undertake the less tangible aspects of the care experience, such as chatting to the recipient, and having a cup of tea with them. Developing such relationships would clearly improve the effectiveness of care, but also help to combat loneliness and isolation among those with care needs.
 
Part of the answer is more time. But we also need less time, in the sense that the care experience should not be organised around time, but rather the actual tasks the individuals need to be undertaken on their behalf. Current forms of time management depersonalise the care experience.   
 

Craig Berry