Care homes in crisis: promising ways forward

This introductory chapter begins by explaining the feminist political economy theory that guides the research and the multiple methods used by the international, interdisciplinary team that wrote this book. After explaining nursing homes, it then sets out the overall pre-Covid context for nursing home policy and practices in the jurisdictions that the team has studied - Canada, the United States, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Germany - beginning with the long history of concerns for aging populations and paying particular attention to the consequences of nursing home policies for equity and care. This is followed by an assessment of Covid-era government responses to nursing home tumult. Drawing on decades of research, the chapter concludes with lessons from Covid that would make life worth living and work worth doing in nursing homes.