Abstract

Focusing on the government-led health service in the UK, this paper explores the experiences of family caregivers, responsible for co-ordinating the healthcare of older adults experiencing vulnerability during the pandemic. Data were collected through a 6-month covert netnography, culminating in 322 relevant forum topics and 2607 posts. The findings reveal that both ageing consumers and their carers experience service captivity, which leads to vulnerability. Furthermore, older adults experience vulnerability most when service cessation occurs, involving premature discharge from hospital, eviction from care homes and in-home caregivers withdrawing services, leaving the consumer without an essential health service. Recommendations are made to health service organisations to aid in preventing service captivity and cessation in government-led health services, especially during times of crisis.

Rights

This item has been embargoed until 26/8/25 on the University of Stirling's Repository. During the embargo please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of their Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study.

Cite as

Wilson-Nash, C. 2022, 'Locked-In: The dangers of health service captivity and cessation for older adults and their carers during COVID-19', Journal of Marketing Management. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/34202

Downloadable citations

Download HTML citationHTML Download BIB citationBIB Download RIS citationRIS
Last updated: 16 June 2022
Was this page helpful?