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Why family carers matter: a local study of the work of Suffolk Family Carers (part of the Princess Royal Trust Carers Centre Network)
- Authors:
- McDONALD Ann, BAILEY Sue
- Publisher:
- University of East Anglia. School of Social Work and Psychosocial Studies
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 41p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Norwich
The report is an evaluation of ‘Suffolk Family Carers’ which is a registered charity providing support for people who are caring at home for a family member or friend who is frail, elderly, sick or disabled. The evaluation has a number of different strands. Firstly it will look at who uses their services; where in Suffolk they live, which services they use and with what frequency. Secondly it evaluates whether and how Suffolk Family Carers help carers in their caring role. Thirdly it considers the impact that the organisation has on aspects of carer wellbeing and quality of life, and whether the services enable carers to maintain and develop social and leisure contacts, remain in employment and maintain good health. Fourthly it assesses any preventative impact that the organisation’s services have, in terms of avoiding increased levels of dependency on public services by the carer and the cared-for person. Finally the views of key stakeholders, including commissioning and funding bodies, are sought as to how the organisation is fulfilling its role.
Developing services for people with dementia
- Authors:
- McDONALD Ann, HEATH Becky
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 13(3), September 2009, pp.18-21.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
The authors describe a study carried out in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, funded by the Department of Health, examining services across the statutory, voluntary and private sectors and exploring how national policy was being interpreted to meet local need. The research looked at how agencies make sense of and apply national guidance on services for people with dementia, the map of services across the region and the extent to which this represents partnership within a mixed economy of care, any examples of innovative practice that can be presented for wider dissemination, and problems and gaps in service provision identified by strategic managers, frontline managers and practitioners, and by service users and carers. The findings were that services for older people with dementia are underdeveloped compared to those for older people generally, but that there is the potential to develop community-based and inclusive services for people who have dementia.
Developing services for people with dementia: findings from research in a rural area
- Authors:
- McDONALD Ann, HEATH Becky
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing, 9(4), December 2008, pp.9-18.
- Publisher:
- Pier Professional
- Place of publication:
- Brighton
This article describes a piece of work carried out in East Anglia designed to map services across the statutory, voluntary and private sectors, and to describe the ways in which national policy is being interpreted to meet local need. Examples of innovative practice, as well as gaps in service design and delivery, were identified though an examination of local policy documents and qualitative interviews with strategic managers, frontline managers and practitioners, and local carers of people with dementia. The findings confirm that services for older people with dementia are under-developed in comparison with services for older people generally, and in comparison with mental health services for working age adults. There are particular gaps with respect to rarer types of dementia, services for people with learning disabilities, and services for people from minority ethnic groups. Carers have also been affected by a shortage of joined-up information, high eligibility criteria and a change to short-term working by practitioners.
The impact of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act on social workers' decision making and approaches to the assessment of risk
- Author:
- McDONALD Ann
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 40(4), June 2010, pp.1229-1246.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
While there is no body of law relating directly to older people, the 2005 Mental Capacity Act in England and Wales has introduced a statutory system for assessment and substituted decision making for people lacking the capacity to make independent decisions, including decision making by older people with dementia. This paper, based on research into the early impact of the Act on social work practice, identifies three distinct types of approach to risk emerged: legalistic; actuarial; and rights-based. These three types of social work practice are discussed in the context of modernist assumptions of rationality and self-interest, the demands of a risk society for proficiency at decision making, and the relationship between moral and legal dialogue where social workers intervene when capacity is challenged. The author highlights how the outcomes are relevant to the changing context of social work with people with dementia, the introduction of individual budgets replacing directly provided services and the development of a National Dementia Strategy. The author argues that, although risk-based and actuarial types currently govern practice, rights-based approaches are necessary to support older people in making choices, counteract stereotypes and promoting well-being.