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The age of opportunity? Revisiting assumptions about the life-long learning opportunities of older people using social care services
- Author:
- HAFFORD-LETCHFIELD Trish
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 40(2), March 2010, pp.496-512.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Shifting national policy in the UK emphasises choice, independence and social inclusion for older people using social care services through the promotion of healthy, active lifestyles and increasing user involvement. In early 2008, the government launched a national enquiry on the future of informal adult learning, revisiting debates around the nature of life-long learning of older people. Until recently, the literature on life-long learning and social care largely ignored each other in relation to implications for service provision. This paper makes links between discourses on life-long learning within public policy with those in social care. Both are concerned with increasing participation, citizenship and social justice for older people. It highlights contradictions between aspirations towards life-long learning derived from Freirean approaches seeking to promote ‘active ageing’ with negative political rhetoric about the burden of ageing and practice of managed care. Social workers play an important part in facilitating learning opportunities within their relationships with older people. Where and how these might be used to promote more inclusive strategies and approaches within practice for the engagement and further emancipation of service users is explored.
What's love got to do with it? Developing supportive practices for the expression of sexuality, sexual identity and the intimacy needs of older people
- Author:
- HAFFORD-LETCHFIELD Trish
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Care Services Management, 2(4), September 2008, pp.389-405.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper seeks to contribute to emerging debates and the development of further understanding by those working in social care towards sexuality and the expression of older people's sexual needs. Drawing on a range of secondary literature, this paper first attempts to define which discourses are influential around older people's sexuality within the social care arena. It examines the potential role played by social care professionals in recognising, interacting and confronting any barriers that serve to perpetuate myths and stereotypes of the ‘asexual’ older person. Finally, the paper addresses questions as to what steps might be taken to promote the wellbeing of older people using social care services through creating opportunities for expression of their needs for intimacy and sexual wellbeing and how to manage responses within services in a more holistic way.
Developing an LGB T&I inclusive environment for older people living in care homes: Community Advisors' assessment and development tool
- Authors:
- HAFFORD-LETCHFIELD Trish, et al
- Publisher:
- Middlesex University
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 13
- Place of publication:
- London
An assessment and development tool which can be used to develop a more inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and intersex (LGB T&I) older people living in care homes. The tool is divided into 7 sections: policies and procedures; environment; consultation; risk management; issues specific to gender - Trans support and care; cultural safety; and end of life care planning and bereavement. Based on research and evidence, the tool was developed for use in residential care settings by academic partners at Middlesex, Nottingham, Bristol and Edge Hill University, UK and sponsored by the Comic Relief Care Home Challenge fund. It was used in a project in which a national care home provider was piloting an approach to developing and enhancing a more inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and intersex (LGB T&I) older people, their families and support networks. Following a training programme, the tool was piloted with care homes. The pilot was successfully evaluated and this tool is now being made available to provide the inspiration for learning how to increase LGB T&I inclusivity in all of the care home services. (Edited publisher abstract)
‘At what cost? The impact of UK long-term care funding policies on social work practice with older people’: a literature review
- Authors:
- HIGGS Alison, HAFFORD-LETCHFIELD Trish
- Journal article citation:
- Ethics and Social Welfare, 12(3), 2018, pp.229-243.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Abingdon
Moving to a care home is a significant and often costly milestone in many older people’s lives, with considerable implications for an individual’s future autonomy, safety, wellbeing and security. Such provision has considerable financial impact both on the economy and on those required to make significant contributions to their own care. Reductions in community-based support and widespread gaps in the sustainable development of alternative options to residential care pose challenges in relation to decision-making for those older people and their carers who wish to make timely plans for good quality provision. The system and process of transfer to care can also be fragmented, bewildering and involve multiple organisations and assessments, often at a time of crisis. Social Workers are key professionals in providing assessment, advocacy and planning with older people and their carers and the challenging neo-liberal policy context suggests the potential for numerous ethical dilemmas for practitioners. This paper examines themes from recent literature in the field of social work with vulnerable older people, particularly in relation to funding arrangements for residential care, examining how ethical issues in this field of social work practice are. identified and discussed. This paper presents a narrative review of relevant literature since 2010. It examines and synthesises key themes and considers how ethical issues connected to this field of social work practice are articulated. (Publisher abstract)
Quality improvement through the paradigm of learning
- Authors:
- HAFFORD-LETCHFIELD Trish, LAVENDER Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 16(4), 2015, pp.195-207.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: Achieving meaningful participation and co-production for older people in care requires radical approaches. The purpose of this paper is to explore an innovation where learning interventions were introduced into care settings and older people matched to community-based learning mentors to develop partnerships. The authors explore how the concept of learning might be used as a paradigm to raise the quality of care in institutionalised settings using a co-productive and relationship-based approach to promote wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach: A structured evaluation drew on qualitative data captured from interviews with older people (n=25) and learning mentors (n=22) to reflect on the potential benefits and challenges involved when introducing learning interventions in care settings. This was contextualised alongside data captured from stakeholders (n=10) including a care home manager, social care and education commissioners, trustees and project staff to assess the interdisciplinary contribution of lifelong learning to quality improvement. Findings: Introducing learning interventions to older people within care settings promoted participation, advocacy and relationship-based care which in turn helped to create a positive culture. Given the current challenges to improve quality in care services, drawing on a paradigm of learning may encourage older people to retain their independence as care homes strive towards a person-centred approach. Promoting social activities and leisure using learning was found to foster closer working relationships between older people and the wider community. These had a levelling effect through reciprocity, using an asset based approach. There were benefits for the care provider as the partnerships formed enabled people to raise both individual and collective concerns about care and support. Originality/value: Raising and sustaining the quality of support for older people requires input from the wider public sector beyond health and social care. Purposeful engagement with other disciplines such as learning and leisure offers the potential to realise a more sustainable model of user choice, person-centred support and user involvement. Being engaged through learning can nourish membership in the community for marginalised populations such as older people living in care homes. (Publisher abstract)
Leadership from the bottom up: reinventing dementia care in residential and nursing home settings
- Authors:
- CHALFONT Garuth, HAFFORD-LETCHFIELD Trish
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work and Social Sciences Review, 14(2), 2010, pp.37-54.
- Publisher:
- Whiting and Birch
The quality of dementia care in residential and nursing homes has been a cause for concern and the subject of a number of policy initiatives. This paper discusses the potential for different styles of leadership in developing a suitable organisational culture in which quality dementia care might develop and thrive. In-depth individual interviews of 4 residential home managers sought to explore their perspectives on what constitutes effective leadership within institutional residential care settings. Drawing on the findings of these interviews, the article argues that alongside strategic imperatives coming from the UK National Dementia Strategy (DH, 2009), there is a corresponding need for more 'bottom-up' approaches within dementia care settings themselves through the empowerment of staff. It argues that this would enable more participatory approaches to organisational development. The paper specifically discusses the concepts of both 'climate' and 'culture' in institutional care for older people and how these features can be enhanced to support a more person-centred approach. Particular emphasis is given to the significance of leading a culture of staff learning.