Human rights in care homes
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Human rights in care homes: What are the foundations of a ‘human rights approach to care‘ and how could it contribute to enhancing the experience of visiting, living and working in care homes?
IRAS ID
222368
Contact name
Jill Manthorpe
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 26 days
Research summary
This research explores how (if at all) ‘human rights’ can help to improve social care for older people living in care homes. It aims to contribute to understanding of how ‘human rights’ may be important in care homes, what ‘human rights friendly’ care might entail and who is responsible for providing it.
‘Human rights’ are potentially important for care homes in England. This is because of changes in the law, regulations and government policies. Despite this, what human rights means for care homes is under-researched. This research aims to fill this gap.
In this study ‘human rights’ are those rights covered by the Universal Bill of Human Rights (UBHR) and in the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. The UBHR is a set of international legal documents and the HRA is a British law, which translates international human rights into national law.
This study has three phases. The first phase explores what people have written about human rights theory and theories of ageing. It considers why and how a human rights approach theoretically could improve social care for older people living in care homes.
The second phase focuses on the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates and inspects care homes in England. It will explore through expert interviews and the analysis of inspection reports whether the CQC addresses human rights issues in care homes and what ‘human rights friendly’ care might be.
The third phase involves research in four English care homes. Interviews with staff, residents and relatives will provide insight into their perspectives about human rights in care homes and if and how a human rights approach could be helpful for care practice.
In a last step of this research the findings from all three phases will be considered together and conclusions will be drawn.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0818
Date of REC Opinion
30 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion