Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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Reclaiming social work with adults
- Author:
- JONES Ray
- Journal article citation:
- Professional Social Work, May 2017, pp.17-18.
- Publisher:
- British Association of Social Workers
The author looks at the role of adult social work and the increasing contribution it can make at a time of an ageing population.
Hoarding severity predicts functional disability in late-life hoarding disorder patients
- Authors:
- AYERS Catherine R., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29(7), 2014, pp.741-746.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Objective: Late-life hoarding is a serious psychiatric condition with significant implications in health and functioning. Geriatric hoarding patients show greater impairment in activities of daily living and have a greater number of medical conditions compared with same-aged nonhoarders. This study examined the relationship between geriatric hoarding severity and functional disability severity. Methods: Sixty-five subjects age 60 or older with hoarding disorder (HD) participated in the current study. Participants were assessed with measures of hoarding severity, psychiatric symptoms, and general disability. Hierarchical regression was used to test the unique association of hoarding symptoms with functional disability beyond the effects of demographic factors, anxiety, and depression. Results: When controlling for demographics (age and gender) and psychiatric symptoms (anxiety and depression), hoarding severity predicts functional disability severity. Analyses also show that clinician-administered measures of hoarding are stronger predictors of disability than patient self-report measures. Conclusions: When treating older adults with HD, clinicians must consider symptom impact on daily life. A multidisciplinary team must be utilized to address the wide-ranging consequences of hoarding symptoms. Future work should examine how psychiatric treatment of HD affects functional disability (Publisher abstract)
Transitions to part-time work at older ages: the case of people with disabilities in Europe
- Author:
- PAGÁN Ricardo
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 27(1), 2012, pp.95-115.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This article examines the labour-force transitions of older workers with disabilities in general, particularly workers’ transitions to and from part-time employment within a European context. Using the 2004 and 2007 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, the article compares transitions between employment statuses for disabled and non-disabled individuals, even after controlling for different disability trajectories. In addition, it examines the determinants for remaining in part-time work in 2007 for those individuals who were part-timers in 2004. Findings indicated that older people with long-term disabilities had a higher probability of staying in a part-time job than their compared counterparts. The authors concluded that policy-makers must promote part-time employment as a means of increasing employment opportunities for older workers with disabilities and support gradual retirement opportunities with flexible working hours.
Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance claimants in the older population: is there a difference in their economic circumstances?
- Authors:
- HANCOCK Ruth, MORCIANO Marcello, PUDNEY Stephen
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 20(2), June 2012, pp.191-206.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
In the United Kingdom, there are two alternative social security benefits for older people with disabilities. The UK Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a non-means-tested cash benefit claimable only before age 65, although receipt can continue beyond 65. The similar Attendance Allowance (AA) can be claimed only from age 65 and in some cases is worth less than DLA. DLA is being replaced by Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which, like DLA, will have advantages over AA. These advantages are sometimes justified on grounds that DLA recipients have longer histories of disability and consequently lower incomes. In this study, data were drawn from the UK Family Resource Survey, and included 32,384 people aged 65 and over, and 93,260 aged 30 to 64. The authors concluded that any reform of the disability benefit system for older people which is less favourable towards people who are first entitled to a disability benefit after reaching 65 is not based on evidence.
Care research and disability studies: nothing in common?
- Author:
- KROGER Teppo
- Journal article citation:
- Critical Social Policy, 29(3), August 2009, pp.398-420.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Disability researchers have voiced the criticism that the concept of care, together with research based on it, consists of the view that disabled people are dependent non-autonomous second-class citizens. The perspectives of disability studies and care research certainly are different from each other. Disability studies analyse the oppression and exclusion of disabled people and emphasize that disabled people need human rights and control over their own lives. Care research focuses rather on care relationships, informal and formal care, care-giving work and `an ethics of care'. Nevertheless, it is suggested here that the two perspectives are not mutually exclusive and that the two groups could learn from each other's approaches. For example, the relationship between disabled people and their personal assistants has much the same characteristics as the care relationship and requires a balancing of the needs and interests of the two parties. On the other hand, access to adequate care could be perceived as a basic civil and human right.
Alarm over allowances
- Author:
- HUNTER Mark
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 17.9.09, 2009, pp.26-27.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Government proposals in the green paper 'Shaping the future of care together' have presented a risk that the attendance allowance could be integrated into the general social care system. This article reports on the opposition from disability user groups who believe the attendance allowance should remain a separate non-means tested benefit. A short case study showing the benefits the allowance provided one woman with a visual impairment is included.
Quality of private personal care for elderly people with a disability living at home: correlates and potential outcomes
- Authors:
- BILOTTA Claudio, VERGANI Carlo
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 16(4), July 2008, pp.354-362.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
To investigate correlates of the quality of private personal care for community-dwelling elderly people, this cross-sectional study enrolled 100 elderly outpatients living at home, along with their private aides and 88 informal caregivers, from May 2005 to January 2007. Cases were stratified according to the quality of private care as was described by both elderly participants and informal caregivers. In cases where the elderly person was suffering from overt cognitive impairment, only the opinions of the informal caregivers were taken into account. A comparison was made between the 'poor or fair care' group (16), the 'intermediate care' group (39) and the "optimal care" group (45). Considering the characteristics of private aides, there was a significant trend across the three groups in terms of language skills and level of distress with life conditions. A statistical analysis performed on 59 elderly participants without an overt cognitive impairment and informal caregivers showed an increase in the European Quality of Life Visual Analogue Scale score in the elderly group and a decrease in the Caregiver Burden Inventory score across the three groups. No significant difference was found between elderly people in the three groups in terms of social variables, functional and cognitive status, prevalence of depressive disorders and morbidity. Therefore, good language skills and non-distressing life conditions of private aides appeared to be correlates of an optimal quality of care for community-dwelling elderly people with a disability, and also a better quality of life for them and less distress for their informal caregivers appeared to be potential outcomes of the quality of personal care.
Autonomy in long-term care: a need, a right or a luxury?
- Author:
- BOYLE Geraldine
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 23(4), June 2008, pp.299-310.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Doyal and Gough's theory of human need highlighted that personal autonomy is a universal need and human right, essential for well-being. In applying their theory to older disabled people in the UK the author suggests that their "minimally autonomous" threshold would exclude some older people in long-term care who still have a fundamental need for autonomy or, alternatively, extant autonomy. The disability movement has highlighted that independent living is fundamental to achieving self-determination for disabled people and debate on equality and caregiving emphasises the autonomy of carers. However, there is a lack of recognition in both academic research and government policy of autonomy as a need and right of older disabled people. The author argues that autonomy is a human right of older people living in long-term care settings, but that social rights are necessary to facilitate their autonomy.
Shifting from fragmentation to integration: a systematic analysis of long-term care insurance policies in China
- Authors:
- ZHOU Wusi, DAI Weidong
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Integrated Care, 21(3), 2021, p.11. Online only
- Publisher:
- International Foundation for Integrated Care
Introduction: Long-term care is an effective intervention that help older people cope with significant declines in capacity. The growing demand for long-term care signals a new social risk and has been given a higher political priority in China. In 2016, 15 local authorities have been selected to pilot the long-term care insurance programme. However, the current implementation of these programmes is fragmented, with a measure of uncertainty. This study aims to investigate the principles and characteristics of long-term care insurance policies across all pilot authorities. It seeks to examine the design of local long-term care insurance systems and their current status. Methodology: Based on the 2016 guidance, a systematic search for local policy documents on long-term care insurance across the 15 authorities was undertaken, followed by critical analysis to extract policy value and distinctive features in the delivery of long-term care. Results: The results found that there were many inconsistencies in long-term care policies across local areas, leading to substantial variations in services to the beneficiaries, funding sources, benefit package, supply options and partnership working. Policy fragmentation has brought the postcode lottery and continued inequity for long-term care. Discussion: Moving forward, local authorities need to have a clear vision of inter-organisational collaboration from the macro to the micro levels in directional and functional dimensions. At the national level, vertical governance should be interacted to outline good practice guidelines and build right service infrastructure. At the local level, horizontal organizations can collaborate to achieve an effective and efficient delivery of long-term care. (Edited publisher abstract)
The health of older family caregivers – a 6-year follow-up
- Authors:
- WRANKER Lena Sandin, ELMSTAHL Solve, CECILIA Fagerstrom
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 64(2), 2021, pp.190-207.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
It is unclear whether caregiving has an impact on the physical, mental and functional health of older caregivers. This study aimed to describe physical, mental and functional health in relation to family caregiving in old age (60+) over a six-year period. The study comprised 2,294 randomly selected individuals (60–96 years) from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care, who answered the question on whether they were caregivers and who were followed up six years later. The prevalence of family caregivers was 13.1% and the incidence was 12.4%. Four tracks (T) were identified; T1) Family caregiver both at baseline and follow-up (n = 74), T2) Family caregiver at baseline but not at follow-up (n = 226), T3) non-caregiver at baseline but family caregiver at follow-up (n = 218), T4) non-caregiver both at baseline and follow-up (1,776). Only non-caregivers (T4) reported a decline in mental health, p < .036. Worries about health increased significantly in T2 and T4. The prevalence of caregivers was 13.1% with a high turnover. There are differences between family caregivers and non-caregivers in deterioration in physical and mental health as well as physical function over a six-year period. (Edited publisher abstract)