Co-production of Peer-to-Peer Care Practices. The Case of a Social Innovation in Elderly Care

Abstract

This study analyzes the co-production of peer-to-peer interactions as a social innovation that utilizes older people’s resources as a means for providing public care. We ethnographically explore an initiative named Give&Take that aims to establish peer-to-peer care among older people. We draw on a practice perspective with respect to care and its organization while also being influenced by the conceptualization of sociomateriality. The study illustrates the co-production of peer-to-peer care within a social innovation at the intersection of formal and informal care. We show how care practices and their specificities clash with institutionalized logics in the co-production of care. In conclusion, we argue that considering how care practices are shaped by a set of institutionalized logics in public innovations enhances our understanding of the coproduction of care that draws on older people’s resources. These findings are of importance to innovations following EU policies on co-production and active aging.