Background

I’m now an arthritic, ageing, academic who has been interested in the care of older people for over 25 years. My roots are in practice and for many years I was involved in the management of care homes and ensuring older people received the best possible care. After working in an acute hospital environment as Unit Manager I made a very conscious decision to move out of hospital work to care for older people.

Following the introduction of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 in 1993 I wanted to understand the implications this would have on older people’s lives and attended a number of practitioner focused conferences. At one of these conferences I picked up on the fact that the University of Surrey was in the process of developing an MSc course in Gerontology: Policy Care and Practice. I was accepted onto the course and found I was ‘hooked on learning’ despite already being in my late forties at the time. Successfully completing the course and becoming a PhD student with an ESRC studentship made my transition from practice to academia complete.

PhD experiences
Title: Meeting the Needs of Older People? A Comparative Study of Care Home Staff in England and Germany

University of Surrey , awarded 2003

Click here to view the abstract

I built on my past work in practice in choosing a topic that had been of interest to me for many years. The differing health and social care policies, differences in the cultures of care and diverging occupational training practices provided a challenging and interesting framework to conduct the study.

Doing a PhD was very circumstantial, things just fell it to place at that time of my life.

I chose to study at the University of Surrey mainly because I found the people I met in the Sociology department inspiring. I was initially funded by my husband, was then awarded an ESRC studentship and for the final year worked as a Research Fellow.

For me, what I enjoyed most about doing the PhD was the challenge to prove I could do it. I enjoyed developing the methodology, collecting and analysing the data and disseminating the findings. It was all a challenge though, from learning how to conduct research to being able to present findings at conferences. 

Doing the PhD has given my career in the care of older people living in care homes a different dimension. Whilst not physically providing ‘hands on care’ I hope the work I do will have a wider influence on the delivery of care to older people. For example the research I am presently involved in aims to establish the determinants of poor sleep for older people living in care homes. This is enabling an in-depth study of life in 10 care homes and amongst other things is already questioning the daily routine in care homes and how that influences an older person’s ability to sleep well.

The final part of doing a PhD is of course the Viva. That morning my hair was standing on end and I could not change it! I felt physically sick and when I went into the room I first of all checked if the waste paper basket would be useful and reliable if I did need to throw up! When I sat down I was told by my external examiner that I had passed but there were a few more questions. Despite being told I only needed to ‘tweak a bit here and there’ I came out feeling very confused. I have never been very good at exams and this was no exception! Although I loved doing my PhD, I for one did not enjoy my Viva. The support and company of my husband and friends that day was invaluable.

How you prepare for your Viva is very individual. One of the important things is to make sure you have referenced your external examiner in your thesis and that on the day of the Viva you really do know their work. That may well help you anticipate the angle they take when asking questions. However, do not make your thesis a homage to your external examiner! Don’t go wearing jeans and a tee-shirt. Stay calm and sober; that state can be changed later in the day!

The best piece of advice, given by Kate Davidson, before I started my PhD was to go and talk to Sara Arber. I have not looked back since doing exactly that. For those contemplating doing a PhD, my advice is: you must be fascinated by your research topic and be driven to find out more about it through your research. Be certain you have the full support of your partner and family.

Post-PhD
Following my PhD I was lucky enough to be awarded an ESRC Post-doctoral Fellowship, followed by a lectureship at the University of Surrey. The ESRC Fellowship was useful in providing time to find employment that suited my skills and interests and was geographically acceptable. As I was not in a position to move, the jobs I could apply for were limited. In that year there were no positions available relating to ageing and I found myself applying for positions that only vaguely fitted my research and teaching interests. Not having a first degree in Sociology also proved to be a hindrance. However, in hindsight it has all fallen into place very well and I am happy that I am still at the University of Surrey, albeit in a different Faculty but still able to undertake research work with Sara Arber and Kate Davidson as well as influencing the delivery of care to older people through my teaching.

I teach at undergraduate and postgraduate level and am presently co-supervising three PhD students. Over the last three years I have been part of a number of research bids and further bids with colleagues are under development. I am currently leading one of the Work Packages in the New Dynamics of Ageing Research Project Optimising Quality of Sleep Among Older People in the Community and Care Homes: An Integrated Approach where I am responsible for establishing the determinants of poor sleep in care homes.

BSG/NOGS

I’ve been a member of BSG since 1996. Kate Davidson was associate lecturer on the MSc course in Gerontology: Policy Care and Practice and told us all about the BSG. Being a member of BSG offers you membership of a supportive academic community with excellent networking opportunities.

I was a member of NOGS while doing my PhD. Peer support was invaluable, you often feel isolated in your topic and it is good to know there is a huge community out there interested in ageing issues.

The development of search engines has made it easier to find relevant literature but none the less talking to others about what you have read or being able to ask amongst your peers what they might have read relating to a specific topic or research methodology by email or in a chat room on the BSG website might prove useful. I also think to have the support of friends when you are making your first conference presentations is very good. Being part of a network also helps you find out about potential job/research opportunities.

After nearly 10 years of involvement with the BSG, the last eight years has been, from my personal perspective, more a case of what can I do for the BSG rather than what the BSG can do for me. However, I strongly believe all my involvement with the BSG has been beneficial to my career and I have met some wonderful people and made great friends.

Future plans

Looking ahead, my plans are to complete the NDA project, supervise the PhD students to completion of their theses, and retirement.