Rate My Professor Karen West

Professor Karen West is Professor of Social Policy and Ageing in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol, where she serves as Head of School. She joined the University in 2018 from Aston University, where she was Head of the Sociology and Policy department. Her academic career spans over 20 years, commencing with a fully funded PhD at South Bank University, along with an MA and BA (Hons). Following her doctorate, she held an ESRC postdoctoral fellowship at the London School of Economics, researching sustainability, urban planning policies, and local government contracting. She then joined Aston University in a full-time role within the public policy and public management department, progressing to departmental leadership.

Karen West's research focuses on policies and services for ageing populations, with particular emphasis on the intersections of social care and housing. Her expertise encompasses collaborative forms of later life housing, including cohousing, small housing cooperatives, and self-managed retirement communities, alongside advancements in policy analysis, critical gerontology, death studies, and political economy informed by critical fantasy studies. She has partnered with ExtraCare Charitable Trust, Housing 21, Birmingham City Council, and Warwickshire County Council. Notable projects include an NIHR School for Social Care Research grant on collaborative housing as a social care model and peer bereavement support for older residents with ExtraCare and Cruse Bereavement Care. She co-edited Collaborative Housing, Ageing and Social Care: Lessons from Europe (Bristol University Press, 2025) and authored key publications such as 'The grip of personalization in adult social care: Between managerial domination and fantasy' (Critical Social Policy, 2013), 'Reimagining collective forms of day care provision for older people' (Journal of Long-Term Care, 2025), and 'Cohousing and the role of intermediaries in later life transitions' (Ageing & Society, 2024). As a Senior Fellow of the NIHR School for Social Care Research, she contributes to the School for Policy Studies' Health, Social Care and Disability Research Centre.