Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
My research focuses on care, broadly understood and informed by feminist care ethics. This conceptualises care as fundamental to human and non-human well-being and survival, and intrinsically relational. Using this framework my research spans a range of topics – ageing, social care and self-funded care, well-being in old age, intergenerational relationships, adult social care practice and participation. Care ethics informs my research approach through co-producing knowledge with people and community groups. I am a qualitative researcher and use relational research practices to guide participatory research processes and develop conceptual understanding of knowledge based in lived experiences.
I have a long-standing interest in the impacts of welfare and social policy on everyday life which predates my academic career. I worked for many years in the voluntary and community sector and witnessed the impact of changes to welfare and housing services from the 1980s onwards. These experiences have shaped the direction of my academic career and ongoing commitment to producing research that is accessible beyond an academic audience.
Recent and current projects
2021 – 2025 Kent Adult Social Care Partnership NIHR HS&DR funded (PI Ann-Marie Towers, University of Kent). Kent Adult Social Care Partnership
The Kent Research Partnership is one of six capacity building, social care partnerships funded by the NIHR Health Services and Delivery (HS&DR) programme in England. The four-year programme of work will develop sustainable Kent-based partnerships to support the delivery of high quality social care research on the topics that matter most in the region. This partnership aims to improve care quality by investing in and valuing the social care workforce, and developing a culture of research and evidence-based practice and innovation.
2020 - Understanding fairness between different generations in times of COVID-19. Collaborative project with South East England Forum on Ageing.
2020 - Learning from Covid-19 in Adult Social Care. Collaborative project with Health and Adult Social Care, Brighton and Hove City Council.
2017 - 2021 Ethical Issues in self-funded social care: co-producing knowledge with older people. Funded by Wellcome Trust. Multi-site collaboration with University of Birmingham and University of Lincoln. Qualitative study focused on older people’s lived experiences of funding their social care, co-produced with older people with lived experience and social care commissioners, providers and practitioners.
2018 – 2020 Ethical Issues in self-funded social care: co-producing knowledge with older people. Funded by Wellcome Trust. Public engagement partnership with Fabrica Contemporary Art Gallery. Commissioned exhibition and public engagement programme at Fabrica Brighton, Ikon Birmingham and Frequency Digital Festival, Lincoln: Care(less) | by Lindsay Seers | Fabrica, Brighton, UK.
2015 – 2016 Older people’s experiences of sight loss in care homes. Funded by Thomas Pocklington Trust.
2015 Going it Alone: exploring older people’s experiences of self-funding care. Rising Stars Award, University of Brighton.
2011 – 2012 Developing a Knowledge Exchange on Older People's Involvement with an Ethic of Care. ESRC funded Follow on Funding project translating research findings through knowledge exchange with social care practitioners, producing research-based films and learning resources for social care with older people: Older people, well-being and participation - films and learning resources.
Supervisory Interests
I supervise PhD students addressing a range of topics related to care and practice including peer support in prisons, mental capacity in adult social care, and lived experiences of home share schemes. I welcome proposals from doctoral students interested in qualitative methodologies, critical theoretical approaches and lived experience.
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, Social Policy, University of Brighton
External positions
Member of Editorial Collective, Critical Social Policy
1 Jan 2014 → …
Keywords
- H Social Sciences (General)
- Ageing
- Care Ethics
- older people
- social policy
- participatory research
- social care
- co-production
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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KASCP: Kent Research Partnership: Building research capacity in adult social care
Towers, A.-M. (PI) & Ward, L. (CoI)
1/06/21 → 31/05/25
Project: Research Councils / Government Depts.
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Ethical issues in self-funded social care: co-producing knowledge with older people
Ward, L. (PI), Ray, M. (CoI), Tanner, D. (CoI) & Locke, P. (CoI)
3/04/17 → 1/07/20
Project: Grant
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Defining good care: experiences of older people with sight loss and residential care
Ward, L. (PI) & Banks, L. (CoPI)
1/04/15 → 30/06/23
Project: Charities
File
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An intergenerational divide in the context of COVID-19?
Ward, L. & Fleischer, S., 30 Jun 2023, Social Policy Review: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy. Cefalo, R., Rose, M. & Jolly, A. (eds.). Bristol: Policy Press, Vol. 35. p. 26-46 21 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding with ISSN or ISBN › Chapter › peer-review
Open Access -
‘When it comes to carers, you’ve got to be grateful that you’ve got a carer coming’: older people’s narratives of self-funding social care in England
Tanner, D., Ray, M. & Ward, L., 19 Jul 2022, In: Ageing & Society. p. 1 - 22 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Understanding fairness between different generations in times of COVID-19
Ward, L., Fleischer, S. & Towers, L. J. L., 28 May 2021, 40 p.Research output: Book/Report › Project report
Open AccessFile -
Understanding fairness between different generations in times of COVID-19 - Appendix
Ward, L., Fleischer, S. & Towers, L. J. L., 28 May 2021, 64 p.Research output: Book/Report › Project report
Open AccessFile -
Care Ethics, Democratic Citizenship and the State
Urban, P. (Editor) & Ward, L. (Editor), 10 Jul 2020, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 318 p. (International Political Theory)Research output: Book/Report › Book - edited › peer-review