Social workers’ experiences of supporting older people when care homes close:critical gerontology as a professional tool

There is limited evidence about social workers’ experience of involvement in the closure of care homes for older people to inform this pressured and sensitive area of practice. This paper examines qualitative data from interviews with 17 social workers involved in the closure of care homes for older people in England between 2021-24. It argues that critical gerontology offers a vital foundation for social workers to uphold allegiance to the values of their profession when confronting organisational pressures to expedite the ‘relocation’ of older people. The paper advocates for stronger integration of critical gerontology in social work education. To support this argument, the concept of precarity is used to highlight: the structural precarity that contextualises care home closure; the ontological precarity of older people in very late life experiencing care home closure; and the professional precariousness of social workers navigating this process. Critical gerontology can equip social workers with a more critical understanding of their practice context, enhance their ability to engage with ethical conflicts inherent in their role and foster closer alignment with the precariousness experienced by older people.