Welfare Reform on the Web (May 2001): Care of the Elderly - UK
THE HIGH COST OF ISOLATION
T Owen
Working with Older People, vol.5, Jan 2001, p.21-23.
A Mori survey for Help the Aged has shown that nearly a million older people feel isolated and lonely. Argues that outreach services and community workers have a vital role to play in acting as a single point of entry to services and help.
THE MUTUAL BENEFITS OF INVOLVEMENT
D Heptinstall
Working with Older People, vol.5, Jan. 2001, p.24-26.
Article discusses the issues bound up in older people's involvement in the planning and provision of care services. Argues that the limitations of user involvement and the role of professionals both need to be clarified if the potential benefits of participation and empowerment are to be realised.
RESIDENTS USE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT TO FIGHT PLANS TO PRIVATISE HOMES
Anon.
Community Care, no.1361, 2001, p.2-3.
Residents' action groups are using human rights legislation to try to put an end to local authority plans to privatise or close council-run homes for older people.
THE ROUGH ROAD AND THE SMOOTH ROAD: COMPARING ACCESS TO SOCIAL CARE FOR OLDER PEOPLE VIA AREA TEAMS AND GP SURGERIES
N Le Mesurier and S Cumella
Managing Community Care, vol.9, Feb 2001, p.7-13.
Article discusses the results of a comparative evaluation of a social worker in primary care and her equivalents in an area team. Direct referral was found to be more efficient than referral to the area team, enabling the attached social worker to manage a higher workload and improved levels of contact with service users and the primary care team. The options available for service users were thus enhanced, with consequent cost advantages for the social services department.
THE SHAPE OF CARE TO COME
N Valios
Community Care, no.1361, 2001, p.18-19.
Some analysts predict that residential care for older people will die out over the next 20 years and be replaced by various forms of sheltered housing.
SUPPORTING PEOPLE: IMPROVING SERVICES FOR OLDER PEOPLE
F Heywood and L Harrison
Housing, Care and Support, vol.4, Feb 2001, p.8-12.
The Supporting People initiative, when applied to older people, spoke of the desirability of giving more low-intensity support and of the opportunity for health services to become involved in the commissioning . However, detailed proposals have been more concerned with protecting the status quo than with innovation and have emphasized "assessment" rather than empowerment of service users. Change could still happen through Supporting People, and the practical housing support people need could be supplied through the agency of primary care groups or through an extension of attendance allowance.
TORIES PROMISE TO PROTECT HOMES OF ELDERLY SAVERS
J Sherman
Times, Mar 7th 2001, p.14.
The Conservatives are promising that, if elected, they would ensure that people who took out sufficient private insurance cover to pay £20,000 towards the costs of long term care would have some of their assets protected rather than taken by the state to cover expenses. Families who paid for the care of elderly relatives would receive tax breaks.
(See also Guardian, Mar 7th 2001, p.12).
WILL OLDER PEOPLE HEAD FOR THE HILLS?
R McKay
Community Care, no.1359, 2001, p.10-11.
Summarises the debate in Scotland about the implications of offering free personal care for both young and older people with long term needs.