Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This is a qualitative data collection. In the late 1950s Peter Townsend undertook a national study which investigated the provision of long-stay institutional care for old people in England and Wales. His findings and recommendations were published in 1962 in his book The Last Refuge. The study sought to ask "Are long stay institutions for old people necessary in our society, and, if so, what form should they take?" Interviews were conducted with local authority chief welfare officers; and over one hundred institutions - local authority, voluntary and private - were visited and interviews made with their matrons, wardens and proprietors; as well as residents. In many cases, detailed notes were also made about the condition of the buildings and the facilities that were offered. The study was conducted in 5 distinct stages:Pilot 1 - Peter Townsend's first visit to a old people's home (2 field notes)Pilot 2 - Pilot visits/interviews with Welfare Officers and at homes for the elderly in Hampshire (9 field notes; 3 interview summaries)Pilot 3 - Pilot visits/interviews in homes for the elderly in London (7 field notes)Welfare Officer Interviews - Interviews with Welfare Officers (61 interview summaries)Home Interviews - Interviews with matrons, superintendents or proprietors of homes for the elderly (4 field notes; 130 interview summaries)The data collection also includes 112 digitized photographs taken at the care institutions by Townsend during the fieldwork. The photographs complement the stories told in the interview summaries and field notes. Metadata has been added in the property of each photograph, including id, name of the collection, author, annotations, and a description of the photograph. The data collection which is available from ESDS Qualidata has been digitisation for download. A teaching resource has been created which can be used alongside this data collection - Re-using qualitative data - The Last Refuge. The resource has activities that can be used in the classroom or as self-paced learning activities. The aim is to think critically about the project's methodology and information provided by the data and what kinds of opportunities and challenges these might present for re-use of that data. For the second edition (August 2011), 112 digitised photographs have been added to the data collection.

Main Topics:

Old age; elderly people; residential care of the elderly; nursing homes; old people's homes; care of dependants; retirement; nursing; nursing staff; poverty; welfare services; welfare service administration; social isolation; loneliness.

One-stage stratified or systematic random sample

Face-to-face interview

Observation