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How does the community care?: public attitudes to community care in Scotland
- Authors:
- CURTICE Lisa, PETCH Alison
- Publisher:
- Scotland. Scottish Executive. Social Research
- Publication year:
- 2002
- Pagination:
- 49p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
As part of the 2001 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, the Scottish Executive funded a module of 40 questions on the attitudes of people in Scotland to a range of community care issues. Interviews were completed with 1605 individuals across Scotland. Three quarters of respondents felt comfortable about living next door to a frail older person and more than half about living next door to a person with a learning disability. Less than half, however, felt comfortable about living next door to a person with mental illness or with dementia. Respondents were strongly in favour of individuals with support needs living in the community rather than in care homes or hospitals. This view was most common for a person with a learning disability and least common (but still the majority) for a person with dementia. Most people interviewed thought that a person with a mental illness or a learning disability should not serve on a jury. Support needs, it was felt, should in the main be met by paid workers. The exception was for the person with a learning disability needing to be accompanied to a club where the potential contribution of family members and volunteers was cited. A substantial majority considered the funding of support to be the responsibility of the government. Respondents with personal experience of care were even more likely than others to take this view. There was strong support for individuals remaining within their own homes when this was their wish, even when this was a more expensive option. Only a fifth of respondents thought that those able to pay should be able to access better quality provision, suggesting strong support for equity. Respondents expressed a willingness to pay higher taxes to generate funds for increased expenditure on health, support for older people and pensions. The top priorities for additional government spending on older people were home helps, special housing provision, and district nurses.