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Frail bodies, courageous voices: older people influencing community care
- Authors:
- BARNES Marian, BENNETT Gaynor
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 6(2), March 1998, pp.102-111.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Evaluates a project initiated by Age Concern Scotland in Fife, the User Panels project, which is intended to enable older people who were unable to leave their homes without assistance to meet together to develop a collective voice expressing the needs and experiences of older service users. It considers methodological questions posed by the evaluation of projects which aim to empower users, as well as discussing key findings from the evaluation. Those who became members of the panels valued this experience and reported intrinsic benefits related to the social contact, opportunities for learning and development of self-esteem. Evidence concerning enhanced capacity to exercise control over key aspects of their lives was less convincing. The model is considered to demonstrate benefits both for the older people who become involved and for officials seeking to improve the sensitivity of services to the needs of older people.