Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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Combatting loneliness: a guide for local authorities
- Author:
- LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
- Publisher:
- Local Government Association
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 44p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Loneliness is a significant and growing issue for many older people. Research over decades has found that acute loneliness has been consistently estimated to affect around 10-13% of the population of older people. Over the same time period, there has been a growing percentage of older people who sometimes feel lonely. Loneliness makes older people vulnerable to developing chronic health problems, depression and increases the need for social care services or residential care. This guide offers a brief summary of key research on the issue of loneliness, and some practical steps every local authority, working in partnership with other statutory bodies and their partners, can take to tackle loneliness, setting them in the context of an overall framework for action. The described framework comprises 3 tiers of actions: at the strategic level across the local authority; at the level of the community; and at the level of the individual. Suggested practical steps are illustrated by case studies drawn from around the country.
Health, wellbeing, and the older people housing agenda: briefing paper
- Author:
- OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY. Institute of Public Care
- Publisher:
- Housing Learning and Improvement Network
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 15p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This paper is 1 of 3 which explore the practicalities of delivering housing for older people and maximising the benefits to their health and wellbeing. Poor housing can be a contributory factor to acerbating a number of health conditions, just as good housing may help to limit the effects or incidence of other conditions. Housing factors that influence older people’s health include: cold weather; indoor air quality; house type and design; and neighbourhood effects. The paper is aimed primarily at Health and Wellbeing Board members and seeks to support them in their understanding of: the impact of poor housing on the health and wellbeing outcomes of older people; and the strategic approaches they can take to influence the provision of housing and housing related services to improve the health and wellbeing of their older population. Health and Wellbeing Boards need to establish a shared understanding of health and wellbeing outcomes for their local populations, including the variations in outcome for different groups such as older people. The challenge is to understand how housing contributes to the delivery of these outcomes, and what measures indicate that current housing services are not delivering locally. Development of a strategic approach towards health and wellbeing in older people will require better partnership between housing, health and social care.
Breaking the mould: re-visioning older people's housing: examples of innovative housing, care and support solutions for older people
- Author:
- NATIONAL HOUSING FEDERATION
- Publisher:
- National Housing Federation
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 5p.
- Place of publication:
- London
The report describes a number of the business opportunities that an ageing population brings, particularly in the wider community. It also offers examples of how care, support and other practical services such as handyperson or ‘help at home’ services can be offered to older people in all types of tenure, including people who would pay for such a service from a trusted provider. It contains case studies and suggestions about how the increasing number of older people seeking effective housing solutions can provide business opportunities despite reduced public funds for housing and care. Published by the National Housing Federation it demonstrates how the growing numbers of older owner occupiers and people able to pay for care are keen to find alternatives to traditional care and housing options.
Mapping memories of the Letchworth community
- Authors:
- HEATHCOTE Julie, DUNCAN Lindsay
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing and Residential Care, 14(12), December 2012, pp.650-654.
- Publisher:
- MA Healthcare Ltd.
- Place of publication:
- London
Current care approaches stress the importance of the residential home being part of the local community. The ‘mapping memories’ project provides an example of partnership working between Freeman House, a Hertfordshire residential home, First Garden City Heritage Museum in Letchworth, and a local textile artist, funded by a grant from Hertfordshire Museums Partnership. This creative project involved reminiscence work with residents, which then informed therapeutic creative craft and textile work. The outcome of the project was a multisensory interactive memory blanket showing different areas of the town of Letchworth Garden City. These are depicted using different textures, raised and shiny surfaces, and pockets to hold interactive items. The project involved 2 stages: reminiscence sessions using objects and photographs from the museum; and crafts and textile sessions to make the memory blanket. In all, about 40 people were involved in the project in some way. The project aided the wellbeing of the participants and also provided a reminiscence resource, the memory blanket, which will live long beyond the project.
Shaping the choreography of care and support for older people in Glasgow
- Author:
- INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SERVICES
- Publisher:
- Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 44p.
- Place of publication:
- Glasgow
The government’s Reshaping Care for Older People (RCOP) agenda highlights the need to change the way care and support is planned and developed. Not only does it mean improving a whole range of services, but also designing better ways of communicating across different agencies to support these improvements. Over the course of 2011/12, IRISS (the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services), in partnership with The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow City Council Social Work Services, Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS, Cornerstone Care and BUPA, was involved in a project to foster innovative strategies and actions for the development of future support for older people's well-being. It involved multidisciplinary teams comprising designers, social service practitioners and users. The objective was to match the future expectations and aspirations of living a good older life to the resources that will be available to deliver it. There were 2 overall areas of learning on this project; one being the old adage of partnership working, the other, the new and emerging role of service design for public services. The learning suggests that partnership working is still difficult in practice, and that service design can be used not just to improve a given situation but also to generate knowledge that can inform policy making.
The future of gerontological social work: a case for structural lag
- Authors:
- FERGUSON Alishia, SCHRIVER Joe
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 55(4), May 2012, pp.304-320.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Social work leaders have been consistently predicting a future shortage of gerontological social workers to care for the growing number of older people in the US. This article begins by discussing this traditional perspective but then goes on to challenge it using a literature review of alternative perspectives. Published evidence demonstrates that, along with population growth, economic and social factors must be taken into account before predicting future gerontological social work demand. The authors look at such factors as time to death analysis, major practice categories, interdisciplinary issues in long term care and the need to demonstrate the value of gerontological social work. They go on to present structural lag theory as a tool for making sense of the implications related to these alternative perspectives and to explain how these factors affect the profession and may limit its presence in gerontological work settings. Recommendations are made to correct the lag, allowing the social work profession a more substantive voice in the aging enterprise.
Housing in later life: planning ahead for specialist housing for older people: toolkit
- Author:
- NATIONAL HOUSING FEDERATION
- Publisher:
- National Housing Federation
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 24p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This toolkit maps out the processes that could help the ‘Housing our Ageing Population: Plan for Implementation’ (HAPPI) objectives to be met - with particular emphasis on the role of local planning authorities. It has been designed for local planners and commissioners to use when planning for specialist housing for older people as part of an overall local strategy on older people's housing, care and support. The toolkit encourages local authorities to join up planning, housing and social care policy, both in the collection of evidence and the development of specialist housing for older people. It suggests a number of tools to help officers plan for this form of housing in their local policies, strategies, guidance and associated conditions as part of their local plans.
Reasons for redesigning care for older people
- Author:
- PHILP Ian
- Journal article citation:
- Health Service Journal, 29.11.12, 2012, pp.30-32.
- Publisher:
- Emap Healthcare
South Warwickshire Foundation Trust has transformed its acute and community services to meet the needs of older people. A review of evidence about interventions to improve productivity and outcomes in older people's health and care led the Trust to focus on four main principles: get in early; invest in alternatives to acute hospital care; provide acute care by old age specialists; and discharge to assess. The principles have been put into practice in a number of linked projects. These include: using a single assessment instrument. EASY-Care, to be used by the health, social care and the third sector; close partnership working with adult social care and primary care services to provide alternatives to hospital care; and expansion of old-age specialist care teams.
Integrating public and private home care services: the Kotitori model in Tampere, Finland
- Authors:
- LIINA-KAISA Tynkkynen, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Integrated Care, 20(5), 2012, pp.284-295.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This case study introduces a novel home care service integrator model called “Kotitori”. In the model the City contracts with a private provider in order to meet the older customer needs in a personalised way. The model introduces a unique form of public-private partnership in Finland, and describes the basic elements of Kotitori, the development process of the model, and the model's distinctive features compared to more traditional ways of home care service delivery. The author suggests that the transferability potential of the Kotitori model is good both nationally and internationally. The model is potentially beneficial for countries with an interest in developing integrated care in general, as it reflects a form of accountable care organisation.
IFS in action: personalising block contracts: as research report
- Author:
- HOOLAHAN Sian
- Publisher:
- Centre for Welfare Reform
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 19p.
- Place of publication:
- Sheffield
Choice Support was formed in 1984 in south east London to provide a range of support services for disabled and disadvantaged people. In 2010, a 3-year partnership was set up between Choice Support and Southwark Council to develop personalisation in adult social care. This is the 1st of 3 short research reports outlining progress and describing the steps necessary to make the changes. The aims of the project were to transform a block contract worth in excess of £6 million, to develop individual funding for 83 people, and hence to transform the options and supports available to people in Southwark. Savings are expected to be £1.79 million over 4 years, a 29.75% saving for Southwark Adult Services. By November 2011, the following has been achieved: the large block contract for 83 people has been broken down into individual budgets; Individual Service Funds (ISF) have been created for more flexible services; better and more empowering services have been created; and a more dynamic and respectful relationship between a service provider and commissioner have been developed.