Phil Locke

My research interests focus on the lives of older people.  In particular the experience of receiving care and the impact that relationships with family, friends and carers have on older people's perception, and experience, of care. My PhD, awarded in 2016, centered on care relations and explored the relevance of the policy rhetoric of choice to the experiences of older people and their informal carers.  I examined the transition from independence to informal care, the introduction of formal care and the way that care relationships developed and shifted through these changes. I considered a wide range of perspectives, carers and care recipients, informal and formal care, and how all these elements intersect to provide a view of how care relationships advance or constrain older people’s opportunities to make choices.

As a mature student I studied BSc(Hons) Sociology with Psychology at the University of Portsmouth.  I was encouraged to collect primary data for my undergraduate dissertation.  This experience led to an enduring interest in the process of research and the relationships between researchers and participants. This was developed through an MSc in Social Research Methods before gaining a studentship at Aston University funded by the Aston Research Centre for Healthy Ageing.