The subtleties of care: illuminating relational care through design

Greater numbers of people in society need care. However, receiving care disrupts identity, changing the sense of self to being cared ‘for’ or ‘looked after’ and can shift the balance where a person may no longer feel independent, but has certain dependencies in their everyday life. These may lead to significant impacts on maintaining day to day life routines and activities. Many of these examples represent transactional care, where a person receives care (in the form of a care package) from another person or service based on their assessed needs, set out in contractual terms in relation to the length and nature of care specified. In research undertaken by Scottish Care, current care models are time-restrictive and mean providing intensive support in the minimum amount of time, leaving little opportunity to provide relational care (Scottish Care, 2017).