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Social work with older people: a vision for the future
- Author:
- MILNE Alisoun
- Publisher:
- The College of Social Work
- Publication year:
- 2014
- Pagination:
- 84
- Place of publication:
- London
The report was produced by a special interest group of eight social work academics engaged in research and teaching in gerontology and gerontological social work (the G8) and The College of Social Work (TCSW) . The report offers a ‘vision’ of what the G8 sees as the role, aims, and distinctive nature of social work with older people, in what contexts it can be effectively deployed, what evidence there is, both in the UK and internationally, of its effectiveness and what social work with older people’s contribution is, and can be, to health, wellbeing and the achievement of social policy goals. It outlines the role and positive impact that specialist social work can have in a wide range of settings, including managing personal budgets, supporting independent living, re-ablement, preventing hospital re-admissions, support for ageing carers, prevention of elder abuse and end of life care. The report also argues that investing in specialist social work with older people delivers good value for money, by reducing the use of expensive acute health and care services. It is one of a series of documents published the The College of Social Work which outlines the moral and financial case for investing in adult social work (Edited publisher abstract)
Living with dementia in a care home: capturing the experiences of residents
- Author:
- MILNE Alisoun
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 12(2), 2011, pp.76-85.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
The purpose of this paper is to consider the experiences and perspectives of residents with dementia living in a care home. The paper reviews current sources of evidence about 'the care home experience'’, including material drawn from: research instruments, interviews, observational methods and phenomenological research which aims to capture the lived experiences of residents. Research that is attempting to capture the lived experiences of residents further adds to the understanding of quality of life (QoL) and quality of care. Specifically, residents prioritise non-disease-related domains of QoL, which is somewhat different than those identified by relatives, care home staff and ‘‘objective’’ measures. Not only is it evident that residents are able to describe aspects of their situation but they appear to retain a sense of self and identity. There is a distinctive need for assessment of QoL amongst residents with dementia that places their subjective view of this concept at its core.
Commentary on Protecting my mother
- Author:
- MILNE Alisoun
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Adult Protection, 13(1), February 2011, pp.53-56.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This paper presents a commentary on Kate Rees’ article Protecting my mother (Journal of Adult Protection, February 2011, pp.46-52). It highlights a number of the key features of the care of nursing home residents that need to be addressed if standards are to improve and abuse become a rarity. Risk is compounded for residents with dementia who often have limited communication skills and high levels of need. The fact that most residents are not known by care staff on admission is a primary challenge to offering good care, an issue that is compounded by a focus on tasks rather than relationships. The author suggests that a primary deficit is that the emotional well-being of residents is given limited attention by the care home sector or agencies tasked with inspecting them. The author concludes that raising the status of care home work, improving pay, conditions and training, and embedding person-centred values in care home practice are key to raising standards.
The ‘D’ word: reflections on the relationship between stigma, discrimination and dementia
- Author:
- MILNE Alisoun
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 19(3), June 2010, pp.227-233.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
This brief article discusses both stigma and discrimination, and how they relate to dementia. It asks what can be done to challenge these problems. Now that it is recognised that people with dementia experience discrimination and stigma, both issues need addressing in anti-stigma strategies.
Developing a profile of older carers
- Author:
- MILNE Alisoun
- Journal article citation:
- Generations Review, 12(2), July 2002, pp.17-19.
- Publisher:
- British Society of Gerontology
Provides an overview of recent research which aimed to development of a 'profile' of older carers. The review increases understanding of who cares in later life and offers a detailed 'profile' of older carers in the UK.
Knowledge generation and former carers: reflections and ways forward
- Authors:
- LARKIN Mary, MILNE Alisoun
- Journal article citation:
- Families, Relationships and Societies, 10(2), 2021, pp.287-302.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
While their increasing number is achieving some academic and public recognition, former carers occupy a liminal status, are often hidden, and experience a range of negative legacies related to caring. Existing research on former carers is limited in both quantity and quality, and former caring tends to be viewed as an end stage of the overall caring trajectory. A number of theories and concepts employed to enrich the wider carers field have the potential to extend understanding about the needs, situations and lived experiences of former carers and to generate new knowledge about former caring as a process and a transition. These include feminist perspectives, lifecourse analysis, the ethic of care, the emotiospatial hermeneutic, emotional labour, social liminality, hybridity, biographical disruption and social identity. The article aims to open up debate about former carers and act as a platform for taking forward developments in research. (Edited publisher abstract)
The carer-related knowledge exchange network (CAREN): enhancing the relationship between research and evidence and policy and practice
- Authors:
- LARKIN Mary, MILNE Alisoun
- Journal article citation:
- Evidence and Policy, 16(3), 2020, pp.491-502.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
Background: Although there is now an extensive international body of research and evidence about care and carers it is fragmented and disparate. Without synthesis, organisation and accessibility it cannot effectively inform and improve policy and practice with carers. Key points for discussion: This paper makes the case for an accessible carer-related research and evidence resource for stakeholders in carer-related domains across policy, practice, research to address this systemic deficit in the carers field. The Carer-related Knowledge Exchange Network (CAREN) has recently been established in recognition of this case. This timely resource is a freely accessible knowledge exchange network that provides relevant stakeholders (for example, carers, commissioners, policymakers, practitioners, employers, third sector organisations, researchers and research funders) with access to a regularly updated and coherent database of carer-related research and evidence; offers interactive opportunities to exchange and generate knowledge; facilitates links and information sharing; and disseminates innovative practice, interventions and services. CAREN’s development, dimensions and functionality are outlined. In addition, the paper identifies and explores the challenges of sustaining CAREN and its further development ‐ namely long-term funding and ensuring that it meets the needs of its many and diverse users. Conclusions and implications: It is anticipated that CAREN will make a significant contribution to research, policy development and service and practice improvement with carers, and will enhance the effectiveness of its stakeholders’ activities. The realisation of CAREN’s potential will ensure that it can, and continues to, make a significant, sustained and cost-effective contribution to addressing a critical global issue of the 21st century. (Edited publisher abstract)
What do we know about older former carers? Key issues and themes
- Authors:
- LARKIN Mary, MILNE Alisoun
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 25(4), 2017, p.1396–1403.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Despite a significant growth in the number older former family carers, they remain largely invisible in carer-related research and literature. To begin to address this deficit, a four-stage literature review was conducted to identify existing knowledge about older former carers. Narrative synthesis of the findings yielded five themes – the concept of ‘older former carer’, the legacies of caring, influences on the legacies of caring, conceptualising post-caring and support services for older former carers. Critical analysis of these findings suggests that existing evidence has a number of strengths. It highlights the terminological and conceptual confusion in the field, identifies the profound financial and health-related legacies older former carers’ experience, the factors which shape these legacies and some of the complexities of bereavement older former carers face. The support needs of older former carers are also illuminated. However, the field is characterised by key weaknesses. The evidence base is fragmented and uneven. In part this reflects lack of definitional consensus and in part the fact that there is much more evidence about some sub-groups, such as carers of relatives admitted to a care home, than others. Methodology-related weaknesses include small sample sizes and a focus on a single, often condition-specific, group of older former carers. An overarching criticism relates to the narrow conceptual/theoretical purview. As post-caring tends to be viewed as one of the final temporal ‘stages’ of the carer's ‘care-giving career’, a bifurcatory model of carer/former carer is created, i.e. that a carer actively provides care and a former carer is no longer caring. This constructs being a former carer – namely formerality – as a single fixed state failing to capture its dynamic and shifting nature and constrains the potential of research to generate new knowledge and extend understanding. (Publisher abstract)
The role and influence of micro-cultures in long-term care on the mental health and wellbeing of older people: a scoping review of evidence
- Authors:
- MIKELYTE Rasa, MILNE Alisoun
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 17(3), 2016, pp.198-214.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore evidence about the role played by micro-cultures in long-term care (LTC) settings in shaping residents’ mental health and wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach: A scoping review on micro-cultures in LTC, including database search of academic and grey literature using pre-determined combinations of key terms and specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. The review followed the methodological framework of Arksey and O’Malley (2005). Findings: Micro-cultures (localised, distinctive cultures of a small group of people) in LTC are complex, multi-faceted and multi-directional; they include social dynamics as well as structural and environmental factors. Although much work has been done on the nature of micro-cultures, limited work has focused on LTC for older people. Initiatives to promote the mental health and wellbeing of residents rarely consider micro-cultures in any holistic way; they tend to be taken into account either as part of a contextual backdrop, or as a uni-directional process often equated with the concept of “care culture” or “organisational culture”. Originality/value: The role played by micro-cultures in influencing the mental health and wellbeing of older people living in LTC settings is significantly under researched. The findings of this review suggest that their complexity and multidimensionality challenges researchers. However if the authors are to develop interventions that promote the mental health and wellbeing of residents it is important to invest in work to explore their nature and systemic influence. (Publisher abstract)
Knowledge generation about care-giving in the UK: a critical review of research paradigms
- Authors:
- MILNE Alisoun, LARKIN Mary
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 23(1), 2015, pp.4-13.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
While discourse about care and caring is well developed in the UK, the nature of knowledge generation about care and the research paradigms that underpin it have been subjected to limited critical reflection and analysis. An overarching synthesis of evidence – intended to promote debate and facilitate new understandings – identifies two largely separate bodies of carer-related research. The first body of work – referred to as Gathering and Evaluating – provides evidence of the extent of care-giving, who provides care to whom and with what impact; it also focuses on evaluating policy and service efficacy. This type of research tends to dominate public perception about caring, influences the type and extent of policy and support for carers and attracts funding from policy and health-related sources. However, it also tends to be conceptually and theoretically narrow, has limited engagement with carers' perspectives and adopts an atomistic purview on the care-giving landscape. The second body of work – Conceptualising and Theorising – explores the conceptual and experiential nature of care and aims to extend thinking and theory about caring. It is concerned with promoting understanding of care as an integral part of human relationships, embedded in the life course, and a product of interdependence and reciprocity. This work conceptualises care as both an activity and a disposition and foregrounds the development of an ‘ethic of care’, thereby providing a perspective within which to recognise both the challenges care-giving may present and the significance of care as a normative activity. It tends to be funded from social science sources and, while strong in capturing carers' experiences, has limited policy and service-related purchase. Much could be gained for citizens, carers and families, and the generation of knowledge advanced, if the two bodies of research were integrated to a greater degree. (Publisher abstract)