Welfare Reform on the Web (September 2005): Care of the Elderley - UK

Dementia care provision in rural Scotland: service users’ and carers’ experiences

A. Innes and others

Health and Social Care in the Community, vol.13, 2005, p.354-365

Paper draws on a qualitative study of service provision for people with dementia and their carers in remote and rural Scotland. The key conclusions relate to gaps in the uptake of available services. Reasons for service refusal included: distress to the service users; feelings of guilt; desire to remain at home; perceptions of coping; and desire to protect privacy. Once in receipt of services, respondents' experiences were mixed. Carers and users valued services that were reliable, supportive and flexible. However, for many their experience was far from positive.

A golden opportunity to get it together

D. Martin

Health Service Journal, vol.115, Aug.18th 2005, p.12-13

The policy trend in the UK is towards greater integration of health and social care. This could be realised through the creation of virtual "older people's trusts", where service managers hold a pooled budget and commission all services, including housing and leisure as well as health and social care. Alternatively, responsibility for commissioning healthcare could be transferred to local authorities.

Push button care

K. Leason

Community Care, Aug.18th-24th 2005, p.26-27

Assistive technology has the potential to enable frail older people to remain in their own homes for longer, thus saving councils from paying for their residential care. However, the new technologies need to be used in conjunction with, not instead of, face-to-face personal care.

Transcultural geriatrics: caring for elderly people of Indo-Asian origin

P. Ghosh and S. A. Khan

Oxford: Radcliffe Publishing, 2005

Transcultural gerontology is a relatively new branch of old age medicine which aims to provide a clearer understanding of patient needs and improved care by examining medical, cultural and social interactions. This work is designed as a reference book for professionals who wish to be better informed about their patients or clients from an elderly Indo-Asian population. It covers a wide range of issues including religious history, immigration policy, diet, funerals abroad and alternative medicine, alongside chapters on epidemiology, pathophysiology and psychiatry.