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Managing the financial assets of older people: balancing independence and protection
- Authors:
- TILSE Cheryl, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 37(3), April 2007, pp.565-572.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Family involvement in managing the financial assets of older people is an area of policy and practice importance. This importance relates to the complexity of older people’s assets, systems of paying for care and concerns around substitute decision-making and financial abuse. Although a common task of informal care, little is known about older people’s experiences and wishes in relation to asset management. This paper reports on an Australian qualitative study of the experiences and perspectives of thirty-four older people receiving such assistance. It identifies three scenarios that promote or inhibit independence in this context and draws out the challenges for this emerging area of practice with older adults and their families.
Managing older people's money: assisted and substitute decision making in residential aged-care
- Authors:
- TILSE Cheryl, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 31(1), January 2011, pp.93-109.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
For many older people, decision making about their financial matters is extremely difficult because of competing interests in their assets, and concerns about risk, misuse and abuse. In residential-care settings, older people are often characterised as dependent and vulnerable, especially in relation to decisions about financial assets. Also, older people are often assisted to make decisions where possible, rather than using substitute decision makers. This article reports on an Australian study of the factors that facilitate and constrain residents' involvement in financial decision making in residential settings. Case studies of four facilities explored how staff interpreted the legislative and policy requirements for assisted and substitute decision making, and the factors that facilitated and constrained residents' inclusion in decisions about their finances. Findings revealed substantial variation in the ways that current legislation is understood and implemented, and there are limited resources for this area of practice. The article concludes that policies and practices prioritise managing risk and protecting assets rather than promoting assisted decision making for older people.
Minding the money: a growing responsibility for informal carers
- Authors:
- TILSE Cheryl, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 25(2), March 2005, pp.215-227.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Managing the assets of older people is a common and potentially complex task of informal care with legal, financial, cultural, political and family dimensions. Older people are increasingly recognised as having significant assets, but the family, the state, service providers and the market have competing interests in their use. Increased policy interest in self-provision and user-charges for services underline the importance of asset management in protecting the current and future health, care and accommodation choices of older people. Although ‘minding the money’ has generally been included as an informal care-giving task, there is limited recognition of either its growing importance and complexity or of care-givers' involvement. The focus of both policy and practice have been primarily on substitute decision-making and abuse. This paper reports an Australian national survey and semi-structured interviews that have explored the prevalence of non-professional involvement in asset management. The findings reveal the nature and extent of involvement, the tasks that informal carers take on, the management processes that they use, and that ‘minding the money’ is a common informal care task and mostly undertaken in the private sphere using some risky practices. Assisting informal care-givers with asset management and protecting older people from financial risks and abuse require various strategic policy and practice responses that extend beyond substitute decision-making legislation. Policies and programmes are required: to increase the awareness of the tasks, tensions and practices surrounding asset management; to improve the financial literacy of older people, their informal care-givers and service providers; to ensure access to information, advice and support services; and to develop better accountability practices.
Meaning as outcome: understanding the complexity of decision-making around residential placement in aged care
- Author:
- TILSE Cheryl
- Journal article citation:
- Australian Social Work, 53(4), December 2000, pp.15-19.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Changes in aged care and health policy have introduced an increasingly complex assessment, resource option, and economic and regulatory context for decision-making regarding relocation to residential care. This article reports on an Australian study exploring residential placement from the perspective of spouses who place a long-term partner in an aged care facility. It highlights the importance of understanding the meaning of such decision-making for the spouse who remains at home and explores that ways in which the placement is constructed as either a continuation of, or a refusal to, care for a long-term partner. The paper draws out the implications for social work practice and identifies the challenge to merge knowledge of resource packages, care options and financial arrangements with a concern with the processes of decision-making and the emotional and symbolic aspects of such decisions.