Welfare Reform on the Web (October 1999): Social Care - UK - Community Care

CARING ABOUT CARERS: A NEW DIRECTION?

P. Banks

Managing Community Care, vol. 7, June 1999, p. 3-6

The first national strategy for carers promises a new direction and new emphasis in policy, with measures that will enhance the quality of life for all carers. The strategy does attempt to address the current gap between policy and carers' experience, but many questions remain about its coherence with other policies and implementation locally. Criteria are suggested for evaluating the success of the strategy and its impact on carers.

DEVELOPING NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR REGULATING PROVIDERS OF DOMICILIARY CARE

L. Bell

Registered Homes and Services, vol. 4, June 1999, p. 23-24

Reports progress made by Joint Initiatives for Community Care (JICC) in developing national standards for domiciliary care.

THE ELEMENTS OF GOOD PERFORMANCE: THE PRIORITIES FOR PROVIDERS

C. Greathead

Housing, Care and Support, vol. 2, June 1999, p. 14-17

Best practice in housing, care and support requires: sound information and needs assessment, consumer responsiveness, clear standards for service delivery, and performance monitoring.

FUNDING FREEDOM: DIRECT PAYMENT SCHEMES

R. Woolrych

Housing, Care and Support, vol. 2, June 1999, p. 10-13

Direct payments schemes are integral to the modernising government agenda. They will have implications where supported housing is part funded by social services and where tenants receive services arranged by social services. They can be used to help people with learning difficulties.

REDEFINING COMMUNITY CARE SOCIAL WORK: NEEDS OR RISK LED?

J. Waterson

Health and Social Care in the Community, vol. 7, 1999, p. 276-279

Paper suggests that community care assessment is increasingly concerned with risk management as containing risks becomes a means of rationing scarce resources, when situations of high risk attract more resources than those where the risk is less.

USER-PRACTITIONER TRANSACTIONS IN THE NEW CULTURE OF COMMUNITY CARE

N. Stanley

British Journal of Social Work, vol. 29, 1999, p. 417-435

Article describes the findings of a research project which examined the views and practice of social workers undertaking assessments in one local authority following the implementation of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990. Needs-led assessment, user choice and keeping users in their own homes were seen as central objectives of care management. The shadowing of ten community care assessments allowed the degree to which those objectives were realised in practice to be explored.