Using conversation analysis to explore person-centred care planning
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using conversation analysis to explore person-centred planning in long-term care
IRAS ID
240742
Contact name
Karen West
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 29 days
Research summary
Thanks to demographic changes and increased public expectations, the quality of social care services is under intense scrutiny. Local authorities are legally required to oversee a ‘person-centred’ system of adult social care. This means they should promote independence, choice and control, and shape services around the individual’s views and wishes.
Person-centred care can be viewed as a response to so-called ‘institutionalisation’ in residential care, where in the worst cases people can lose their privacy and even identity as providers focus on routine and minimising risks to safety.
While many have welcomed this shift towards personalisation, for older people’s care it presents challenges. Commentators have raised concerns that the approach has been designed with younger adults in mind, and is poorly defined in professional guidance.
This research project will focus on people aged 65 and over, living in residential care in the South West. I will explore how such people influence the care planning process through conversation analysis (CA), by analysing discussions between them and care providers.
I plan to make video-recording meetings between residents, their relatives and care professionals to discuss their care plans, transcribing the conversations and analysing the transcripts. I will interview a selection of participants about their reflections on the process. Finally, I will analyse documents regarding the care planning procedures of providers. Fieldwork will take around three months to complete.
I anticipate my project will shed new light on debate surrounding the implementation of a policy in an under-researched area, using a method that isolates the way participants use language and communication to articulate needs and preferences. This will build on other CA studies of public services, such as studies of medical consultations involving doctors and patients, and how benefit claimants discuss job-seeking with advisers during Job Centre interviews.REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
20/WA/0022
Date of REC Opinion
5 Feb 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion