Mundane, everyday objects have an important part to play in care practices and how care relationships are established and maintained. Through paying attention to how the materiality of care is constituted between bodies, objects, temporality, and space, we are able to see how objects of care can enable or constrain care practices (Buse and Twigg, 2018). There are many mundane objects which form part of an older person's world when living in care: food, personal hygiene supplies, bedding and furniture, and countless other objects which surround their daily lives. In this chapter, we will focus on objects which have a particular psychological impact upon the older person moving into care, and on the relatives and/or staff managing these objects on behalf of the older person. Most notably in the second half of the chapter we will consider the role that clothing plays in the care setting in terms of negotiating identities and mediating relationships with others.

The chapter begins by considering the personal possessions that are being transitioned from the older person's private home to the care home. It addresses the questions of how personal possessions are chosen, transported, disposed of, or managed with, or on behalf of, someone moving into care, and what impact the presence or loss of these objects has on the older person.

Possessions and ‘the material convoy’

Throughout our lives we collect ‘stuff’: possessions that are practically useful, things that hold emotional value, and things we have not got round to using or cannot bear to throw away. At different points through the life course we may find ourselves collecting new possessions and at other points shedding them. For example, the imminent arrival of a new baby will mean buying particular items: nappies, a cot, a pram, a special teddy bear. Over time the baby will outgrow the cot, pram, and bottles and these will likely be sold, passed onto another new family, or put into storage, and there will be some items which are more immediately disposed of such as the soiled nappies. Yet the teddy may hold more sentimental attachment and may even follow the child through their entire life. Ekerdt (2018, p 30) describes this ‘dynamic’ and transitional ‘body of belongings that accompanies people across their changing lives’ as a ‘material convoy’.