From Provider to Enabler of Care? Reconfiguring Local Authority Support for Older People and Carers in Leeds, 2008 to 2013 (original) (raw)
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Towards Understanding Variations in Social Care for Older People in England
Social Policy & Administration, 2012
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Social Policy and Society
The Care Act 2014 provides for ‘parity of esteem’ between people with social care needs and carers. This is achieved by extending the principles of prevention and wellbeing to carers; reinforcing carers’ right to an assessment; and setting national eligibility criteria for access to carer support services. This article reports on research that examined the impact of these changes on older co-resident carers of older people in four English local authorities. Findings are described in relation to four key themes: organisational arrangements and rationale; the aims of carer support and preventative services; design and delivery of carer assessment; and barriers to assessment and support. The findings of the research suggest that, despite the new statutory requirements, underlying contradictions and tensions in local authorities’ relationship with carers, and efforts to support them, remain unresolved.
Age and Ageing, 2007
Aim: evaluation of the impact of the National Service Framework for Older People (NSFOP) on the experiences and expectations of older people, 4 years into its 10 year programme. Background: the NSFOP is a comprehensive strategy designed to promote fair, high quality, integrated health and social care services for older people in England. It emphasises (i) the need for services to support independence and promote health, (ii) the specialisation of services for key conditions (stroke, falls and mental illness) and (iii) advocates a cultural change in services so that the older people and their carers are treated with respect, dignity and fairness. It has a 10-year timetable for implementation, starting in 2001. Method: a mixed methods approach to evaluation was taken in ten purposively selected localities in England. A portfolio of methods (listening events, nominal groups and interviews) was used with older people and carers to focus on processes as well as on outcomes and to allow for the possibility of conflicting or differing judgements about service quality. Findings: one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine people participated in public listening events, 1,639 took part in nominal groups and 120 were interviewed individually. The existence of the NSFOP was not widely known beyond the NSFOP local implementation teams and voluntary sector activists. Many, but not all older people, identified themselves as members of a group that was subject to age prejudice that altered the quality and standard of their care. This identity included a role as carer for others, but there was less emphasis on the rights of older people. Positive changes in primary care services were offset by difficulties in accessing general practice and a sense that services were becoming impersonal. The quality of social care at home varied from sensitive and personal to fragmentary, hurried and impersonal. Hospitals treatment was perceived as improved in speed and quality in most places, but hospitals were also seen as risky and insufficiently caring, with discharge sometimes being unprepared, over-zealous and disorganised. Conclusions: if asked, older people do not perceive improvements as the result of a NSFOP, but nonetheless they do perceive improvements in systems. It is difficult to attribute any of the changes in experiences that we identified to the NSFOP itself, but we can see that other change processes run contrary to some aspects of the NSFOP whilst some trends are congruent with the aspirations of the NSFOP. Government initiatives face the difficulty of distinguishing experiences that may be attributable to multiple causes. They are influenced nonetheless by the outcome of public consultation since these provide relatively rapid means of feedback and commentary by citizens and regulators on the performance of services.
Understanding the Social Care Crisis in England Through Older People’s Lived Experiences
International Political Theory
In the final chapter of Caring Democracy, Joan Tronto poses the question "how do we go from a society that is primarily concerned with economic production to one that also emphasises care?" (2013, 169). As illustrated in the contributions to this collection, participation in political processes and in decision-making about responsibilities for care are understood as
The Impact of Community Care Policy on Older People in Britain. 1970s-1990s
Sciknow Publication Inc., 2013
Towards the end of the 1970s the concept of ‘community care’ was emerging as the preferred alternative to institutionalized service provision. For feminist writers it presented a potential problem in that the family was identified as the location within which this community-based care would be provided and that the ‘burden’, therefore was likely to fall on women. Community care has been presented as the ideal form of provision on the grounds of cost-effectiveness, moral responsibility (family members have a duty to care for one another) and as a safeguard against the abuse of individual that may occur in institutional settings. The ‘community care’ bandwagon continued to gain momentum throughout the 1980s. The National Health Service became separated and there was subsequent criticism of the fragmentary nature of social provision. The Griffiths Report of 1988 identified the role of social service as an enabling body rather than a service provider. In keeping with government policies, Social Service Departments were to make use of both private and voluntary sectors in purchasing services, and this was adopted in the 1990 National Health Service and Community Care Act.
Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 2019
Aim This exploratory study of commissioning third sector services for older people aimed to explore whether service data was fed back to commissioners and whether this could improve intelligence about the population and hence inform future commissioning decisions. Background Third sector services are provided through charities and non-profit community organizations, and over recent years services have developed that assess and advise people for self-management or provide wellbeing support in the community. Third sector services have an opportunity to reach vulnerable populations and to provide intelligence about them. Some third sector services are state funded (commissioned) in the United Kingdom. While evidence is available about the commissioning of statutory health and social care, as well as private providers, there is limited evidence about how third sector health services are funded. Methods Participants were recruited from commissioner organizations and third sector organiza...
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RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2020
Background to series CHE Discussion Papers (DPs) began publication in 1983 as a means of making current research material more widely available to health economists and other potential users. So as to speed up the dissemination process, papers were originally published by CHE and distributed by post to a worldwide readership. The CHE Research Paper series takes over that function and provides access to current research output via web-based publication, although hard copy will continue to be available (but subject to charge).