Older caregivers: challenging and enriching our assumptions about ageing and about caring

In the context of ageing societies globally, in which people may be living longer with more complex health and support needs, older people are usually considered to be recipients rather than providers of care. In this debate article, we focus on older people as caregivers. Drawing on a range of literature, we consider four questions relating to older people as caregivers: How do caregiving relationships differ for older caregivers? How might older caregivers’ experiences help us to understand the meaning of care? How do older caregivers help us to understand the relationship between care and work? What are the implications for policies and research relating to ageing and to caring? We conclude that paying attention to older people as providers of care as well as recipients leads to a more nuanced understanding of the nature of care and of ageing, which is often overlooked in research and policy.