Our research indicates that 37 of the homes Townsend visited were, in 2006, registered as care homes. The remaining homes appear to be no longer registered as care homes. Our research involved two discrete but related projects:
The first was a tracing study of the large number of homes which are no longer registered as care homes. We recruited volunteer investigators, primarily through the University of the Third Age (U3A), retired members of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), Older People Researching Social Issues (OPRSI) and Local History Associations, to help with the tracing study. Through local archival research, they have traced the history, since 1959, of homes in their area which were in Townsend's sample. Some of them recount their experiences of doing this research in our Newsletters.
An update on the tracing study
The second was a follow-up study of 20 of the homes that are still registered as care homes, comparing these homes then and now. The research team replicated Peter Townsend's method, but with some modification in order to accommodate not only historical and cultural changes in policy and practice, but also changes in methods of social enquiry. This method has generated detailed comparative data relating to the built environment, staffing and routines, the characteristics of residents and reasons for admission, and their daily lives. We have explored continuity and change in the care regimes, as well as cultural changes in descriptions of and responses to old age.
An update on the follow-up study
As part of his research Townsend took many photographs, 35 of which he included in his book The Last Refuge. One of our aims was to replicate this aspect of his work by taking photographs in the homes we visit.