Opening the black box of rationing care in later life: the case of 'community care' in Britain.

Research on the rationing of care to older patients in Britain and America typically focuses on acute care here I consider 'chronic care' as illustrated by 'community care' in Britain. Adopting a critical sociological approach to dependency and to the construction of 'later life,' I argue that chronic care users constitute a class, and that clinical need has played a pivotal role in its development. As this reflects the allocative rationing of care I call into question, the claim made by the current British government that need can provide a benchmark of age justice.