Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 10 of 24
Care preferences among middle-aged and older adults with chronic disease in Europe: individual health care needs and national health care infrastructure
- Authors:
- MAIR Christine A., QUINONES Ana R., PASHA Maha A.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 56(4), 2016, pp.687-701.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Purpose of the study: The purpose of this study is to expand knowledge of care options for ageing populations cross-nationally by examining key individual-level and nation-level predictors of European middle-aged and older adults’ preferences for care. Design and methods: Drawing on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, we analyse old age care preferences of a sample of 6,469 adults aged 50 and older with chronic disease in 14 nations. Using multilevel modelling, we analyse associations between individual-level health care needs and nation-level health care infrastructure and preference for family-based (vs. state-based) personal care. Results: We find that middle-aged and older adults with chronic disease whose health limits their ability to perform paid work, who did not receive personal care from informal sources, and who live in nations with generous long-term care funding are less likely to prefer family-based care and more likely to prefer state-based care. Implications: We discuss these findings in light of financial risks in later life and the future role of specialised health support programmes, such as long-term care. (Edited publisher abstract)
When the clients can choose: dilemmas of street-level workers in choice-based social services
- Authors:
- COHEN Nissim, BENISH Avishai, SHAMRIZ-ILOUZ Aya
- Journal article citation:
- Social Service Review, 90(4), 2016, pp.620-646.
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
To examine the question of how increased use of choice-based management strategies in social services influences the behaviour of street-level workers, this article provides an analytical framework for understanding street-level logic in choice-based environments. It then looks at home-nursing care in Israel to examine how choice plays out in street-level workers’ day-to-day practices. By relying on 34 interviews with social workers working in home-care agencies, the authors illustrate how street-level workers’ jobs have expanded beyond implementing public policy to include the “new job” of recruiting and retaining clients. The article shows how a choice-based environment gives higher priority to clients’ preferences, while at the same time these preferences are subordinated to the economic interest of the providers. It also demonstrates how market pressures may push street-level workers to develop new practices and coping strategies that go beyond, but often also counter to, formal policy. (Edited publisher abstract)
Towards a new deal for care and carers. Report of the PSA Commission on Care, 2016
- Authors:
- ELIAS Juanita, et al
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 52
This report, commissioned by the Political Studies Association, looks at the current crisis facing the care of older in England. The report argues that a New Deal for older people should bring together three different aspect of care provision - the recognition of issues of care, the importance of the redistribution of resources, and representation of the voices of both those that are cared for and those that care. The report is based on a review of the primary and secondary literature as well as an online survey of 169 care workers, and interviews with care providers and local authority officials. Chapters cover: an overview of the care landscape in England, also looking at the nature of the paid and unpaid workforce; the current challenges in financing care, highlighting reductions in spending, rising demand, and the pressures placed on unpaid carers; how individuals access the care they need, and the cost and difficulties of gaining access to care; and results from the survey of care workers. The report concludes that the social care system is unsustainable and in crisis. It also highlights how women bear the brunt of the current crisis, as they are both more likely to provide unpaid care and to be recipients of care. Recommendations include: the establishment of a National Care Service free at the point of access; increased investment in social care; professionalisation and support of the care workforce; and recognition of the work of unpaid carers. (Edited publisher abstract)
Self-funded elder care and the Care Act 2014: insights from a qualitative study of family carers’ experiences
- Author:
- MANGANO Alfia
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 20(3), 2016,
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to look at family carers’ views and experiences of self-funded care for older people with an emphasis on attitudes to public intervention. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with family carers in a densely populated city in Northern England. Study participants were recruited according to a purposive sampling strategy; data analysis was based on a qualitative content analysis approach. Findings:The paper concludes that it may not be straightforward for local authorities to engage with family carers as appropriate under the Care Act 2014. An issue is that family carers do not envisage an intervention of the local authority in circumstances involving the use of privately paid social services. Research limitations/implications:Qualitative information gathered within a broad study of family carers’ views, attitudes and practices of care of dependent older people have been interpreted in the light of the provisions of the Care Act 2014 concerning self-funders. The qualitative approach and the limited number of study participants are issues with the generalisation of findings. Originality/value: Only a handful of studies have attempted to look into family carers’ experiences of self-funded care and the paper aims to contribute to such limited literature. It also provides an evidence-based assessment of the challenges associated with the implementation of the Care Act 2014. (Publisher abstract)
Transforming practice with older people through an ethic of care
- Authors:
- WARD Lizzie, BARNES Marian
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 46(4), 2016, pp.906-922.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This article explores the relevance of deliberative practices framed by feminist care ethics to social work practice with older people. It draws on two connected projects which brought together older people: practitioners and academics. The first was a participatory research project in which the significance of care to well-being in old age emerged. The second was a knowledge exchange project which generated learning resources for social care practice based on the research findings of the first project. The authors analyse selected transcripts of recordings from meetings of both projects to consider the ways that discussions about lived experiences and everyday lives demonstrate care through this dialogue. Using this analysis, the authors propose that care ethics can be useful in transforming relationships between older people and those working with them through the creation of hybrid spaces in which ‘care-full deliberation’ can happen. It is argued that such reflective spaces can enable transformative dialogue about care and its importance to older people and offer a counterbalance to the procedurally driven environments in which much social work practice takes place and can support practice more attuned to the circumstances and concerns of older people. (Edited publisher abstract)
Building safe choices: LGBT housing futures: a feasibility study
- Author:
- SHELLEY Julia
- Publisher:
- Stonewall
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 39
- Place of publication:
- London
This report examines current provision of housing care and related care for the older lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population. Through consultation with the LGBT community, housing developers and funders, and housing and social care providers the study considers potential models for provision of housing, looks at the research evidence into the need for this provision, and looks at examples of existing provision in the USA and Europe. The report sets out four future housing options. These are: supporting and encouraging the development of new specialist older LGBT housing schemes, as well as LGBT affirmative housing schemes across all tenures; the provision of advice and support to individuals who want to work together to create their own housing solutions, like co-housing; for housing providers to identify and support the growth of naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs), which have the potential for building older LGBT communities without the need for additional new investment; and to encourage housing and care providers to develop good practice and greater understanding of the needs of older LGBT people who are living in their own homes. The report also outlines the need for information, advice and advocacy for older LGBT about their housing and care options to help them make suitable individual choices and enable providers to understand their needs. Recommendations are provided. (Edited publisher abstract)
Mixed care networks of community-dwelling older adults with physical health impairments in the Netherlands
- Authors:
- GROENOU Marjolein Broese Van, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 24(1), 2016, pp.95-104.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
As part of long-term care reforms, home-care organisations in the Netherlands are required to strengthen the linkage between formal and informal caregivers of home-dwelling older adults. Information on the variety in mixed care networks may help home-care organisations to develop network type-dependent strategies to connect with informal caregivers. This study first explores how structural (size, composition) and functional features (contact and task overlap between formal and informal caregivers) contribute to different types of mixed care networks. Second, it examines to what degree these network types are associated with the care recipients' characteristics. Through home-care organisations in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the authors selected 74 frail home-dwelling clients who were receiving care in 2011–2012 from both informal and formal caregivers. The care networks of these older adults were identified by listing all persons providing help with five different types of tasks. This resulted in care networks comprising an average of 9.7 caregivers, of whom 67% were formal caregivers. On average, there was contact between caregivers within 34% of the formal–informal dyads, and both caregivers carried out at least one similar type of task in 29% of these dyads. A principal component analysis of size, composition, contact and task overlap showed two distinct network dimensions from which four network types were constructed: a small mixed care network, a small formal network, a large mixed network and a large formal network. Bivariate analyses showed that the care recipients’ activities of daily living level, memory problems, social network, perceived control of care and level of mastery differed significantly between these four types. The results imply that different network types require different actions from formal home-care organisations, such as mobilising the social network in small formal networks, decreasing task differentiation in large formal networks and assigning co-ordination tasks to specific dyads in large mixed care networks. (Edited publisher abstract)
Older persons’ experiences and perspectives of receiving social care: a systematic review of the qualitative literature
- Authors:
- JOSE Jose de Sao, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Care in the Community, 24(1), 2016, pp.1-11.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article presents and discusses a systematic review of relevant qualitative research-based evidence on the older persons’ experiences and perspectives of receiving social care published between 1990 and September 2014. This review aimed to obtain answers to the following questions: How is the reception of social care experienced by the older persons? What are the negative and positive aspects of these experiences? What are the factors which influence the experiences? The synthesis of the findings of reviewed papers identified six analytical themes: asking for care as a major challenge; ambivalences; (dis)engagement in decisions concerning care; multiple losses as outcomes of receiving social care; multiple strategies to deal with losses originated by the ageing process; and properties of ‘good care’. These themes are discussed from the point of view of their implications for theory, care practice and social policy, and future research. (Edited publisher abstract)
Older people’s care survey
- Author:
- CAMERON Gordon
- Publisher:
- Family and Childcare Trust
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 30
- Place of publication:
- London
Reports on a survey of all local authorities and Health and Social Care Trusts in the UK carried out by The Family and Childcare Trust to find out about social care services for older people across the UK. The survey asked whether there was enough provision available, how much residential and home care cost for the people who received it, and local authorities knowledge of the care market in their area. The survey received 182 responses out of 211 local authorities and Trusts, giving an overall response rate of 86 per cent. The results found that only one in five funding authorities reported having enough older people’s care in their area to meet demand. It also identified wide regional variation in availability of care services and in the types of services which have problems meeting demand. While 84 per cent of respondents in the UK said they had enough availability for care home places, that figure falls to 48 per cent for home care, and 32 per cent for nursing homes with specialist dementia support. It also found that although local authorities held good information on the costs they were paying for older people’s care, they had less information on fees for self-funders. The report highlights both the issues facing local authorities in delivering care for older people and how older people and their families face can struggle to get the care they need at a price they can afford. The report makes a number of recommendations including for Government to provide funding to support upstream intervention services, such as at home care, and extra care home schemes and for local authorities to provide up to date information for families about social care in their area, including information about the cost of fees. (Edited publisher abstract)
The damage: care in crisis
- Author:
- UNISON
- Publisher:
- Unison
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 20
- Place of publication:
- London
To examine the impact of cuts on social care services for older people this report draws on a survey of 1,075 social care staff working in home care, residential care and day care across in the UK; individual accounts from people using care services. It also looked at the views of people working in health care about how cuts to services have affected their work. It finds that budget cuts are having a direct impact on the quality of care due to the pressures placed on staff. Of those responding to the survey 63 per cent said they had less time to spend with the people they care for because of staff shortages, and 36 per cent said the rationing of supplies and cutting corners had increased. The report makes recommendations for national and local government and social care employers. (Edited publisher abstract)