NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE. Information Centre for Health and Social Care
Publisher:
National Health Service. Information Centre for Health and Social Care
Publication year:
2006
Pagination:
48p.
Place of publication:
London
The User Experience Survey is run on an annual basis and is used to target areas of particular interest within social services. Opinions are sought over a range of service areas to gain an understanding of users’ views rather than measuring quantities of care delivered. This survey is targeted at clients aged 65 and over receiving home care funded wholly or in part by Social Services. A survey of these clients was last conducted in 2002-03. This survey aims to see how the opinions of these clients have changed in the last 3 years and to gain a better understanding of how different factors effect the overall satisfaction.
The User Experience Survey is run on an annual basis and is used to target areas of particular interest within social services. Opinions are sought over a range of service areas to gain an understanding of users’ views rather than measuring quantities of care delivered. This survey is targeted at clients aged 65 and over receiving home care funded wholly or in part by Social Services. A survey of these clients was last conducted in 2002-03. This survey aims to see how the opinions of these clients have changed in the last 3 years and to gain a better understanding of how different factors effect the overall satisfaction.
Subject terms:
older people, social services, user views, happiness;
This toolkit offers information and advice for professionals working with older deafblind people. It explains what deafblindness is and how it affects people. It sets out the legal responsibilities that social services have and explains how deafblind people can be supported and helped.
This toolkit offers information and advice for professionals working with older deafblind people. It explains what deafblindness is and how it affects people. It sets out the legal responsibilities that social services have and explains how deafblind people can be supported and helped.
Extended abstract:
AuthorSENSE
Title
Fill in the gaps: a toolkit for professionals working with older deafblind people.
Publisher
Sense, 2006
Summary
This toolkit offers information and advice for professionals working with older deafblind people. It explains what deafblindness is and how it affects people. It sets out the legal responsibilities that social services have and explains how deafblind people can be supported and helped.
Context
Increasing numbers of older people are developing hearing and vision problems. Some have substantial hearing and vision difficulties, known as deafblindness. Often this comes on very gradually. Older people themselves, and others around them, may not recognise or understand what is happening. Because of this combined hearing and vision loss they may have problems with communicating, getting around and accessing information. This can cause difficulties with many everyday activities and can make them feel excluded from society. But it doesn't have to be like this. If the right services and opportunities are available, older deafblind people can live independently and make choices about how they wish to live. If appropriate services are provided at the right time, the need for greater health and social care provision later can be reduced. Local authorities now have statutory responsibilities towards other people with combined hearing and vision loss, arising from the guidance 'Social care for deafblind children and adults' (LAC 2001(8). They are required to provide specialist assessments, appropriate information and services designed to meet the need of deafblind people. The guidance is referred to throughout this booklet. In many cases older deafblind people are seen by a social work team for older people, rather than a team which specialises in sensory impairment. The booklet explains how users can ensure that older deafblind people get the support they are entitled to.
Contents
The first chapter explains that the term 'deafblind' describes people of all ages with a combined hearing and vision impairment. They may be deaf or hard of hearing as well as blind or partially sighted. They do not have to be completely deaf and blind; in fact, most deafblind people have some useful hearing or vision. It explains what deafblindness is, how it affects older people, sensory loss, and how many older people are affected. The second chapter, on legal requirements, explains that all social services teams need to understand how to respond to the needs of deafblind people, setting out how the guidance relates to other guidance the reader will be working with. It explains what the guidance says, the Single Assessment Process, Fair Access to Care Services, recognising deafblindness and the National Service Framework. Chapter 3 looks at some of the simple, practical steps that can be taken to help identify older deafblind people, communicate effectively and provide information in accessible formats. It asks how the team can work effectively with older deafblind people and covers indicators of hearing and vision loss and communicating effectively face to face and at a distance, ending with a checklist. Resources including useful organisations and websites are listed.
9 references
Subject terms:
older people, sensory impairments, social services, deaf blindness;
Falling birth rates and increasing life expectancy are leading to huge demographic changes. There are now almost 20 million people over the age of 50 in the UK, accounting for 42 per cent of the adult population. By 2020, the proportion will probably be around 48 per cent and there will be more people over 80 than there are children under five. Cotswold District Council, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Nottinghamshire County Council, Shropshire County Council and Stroud District Council have all adopted innovative approaches to the problems and opportunities that are posed by this shift. After sketching the background, Assisting Ageing looks at four themes: planning for an ageing society - lead contributor Nottinghamshire County Council; improving multi-agency working - lead contributors Cotswold District Council and Stroud District Council; harnessing the energy, enthusiasm and skills of older people - lead contributor Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service; engaging with and involving older people - lead contributor Shropshire County Council.
Falling birth rates and increasing life expectancy are leading to huge demographic changes. There are now almost 20 million people over the age of 50 in the UK, accounting for 42 per cent of the adult population. By 2020, the proportion will probably be around 48 per cent and there will be more people over 80 than there are children under five. Cotswold District Council, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Nottinghamshire County Council, Shropshire County Council and Stroud District Council have all adopted innovative approaches to the problems and opportunities that are posed by this shift. After sketching the background, Assisting Ageing looks at four themes: planning for an ageing society - lead contributor Nottinghamshire County Council; improving multi-agency working - lead contributors Cotswold District Council and Stroud District Council; harnessing the energy, enthusiasm and skills of older people - lead contributor Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service; engaging with and involving older people - lead contributor Shropshire County Council.
Subject terms:
joint working, older people, planning, social services, user participation;
The low levels of awareness of Direct Payments are being challenged by our new film called Your Care, Your Choice: Direct Payments working for you. While a study found that older people receiving Direct Payments reported feeling happier, more motivated and an improved quality of life, fewer than 1% of all those aged over 65 receiving community-based care are in receipt of Direct Payments. Direct Payments are payments that can be made by social services departments, so that individuals that require care at home can arrange their own care services to meet the needs they have been assessed as having. Older people, who receive Direct Payments, are featured on the DVD talking about how their lives have been enriched and the types of activities and support they have chosen. It aims to help older people think about the option of Direct Payments and to look for further guidance to see if it is appropriate for them
The low levels of awareness of Direct Payments are being challenged by our new film called Your Care, Your Choice: Direct Payments working for you. While a study found that older people receiving Direct Payments reported feeling happier, more motivated and an improved quality of life, fewer than 1% of all those aged over 65 receiving community-based care are in receipt of Direct Payments. Direct Payments are payments that can be made by social services departments, so that individuals that require care at home can arrange their own care services to meet the needs they have been assessed as having. Older people, who receive Direct Payments, are featured on the DVD talking about how their lives have been enriched and the types of activities and support they have chosen. It aims to help older people think about the option of Direct Payments and to look for further guidance to see if it is appropriate for them
Subject terms:
home care, older people, social services, assessment, direct payments;
SOCIAL CARE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE, GLENDINNING Caroline, et al
Publisher:
Social Care Institute for Excellence
Publication year:
2006
Pagination:
134p.
Place of publication:
London
This project was commissioned by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), to form the basis of practice guidance published by SCIE to support the implementation of proposals in the health and care White Paper, Our Health, Our Care, Our Say. It helped to strengthen the evidence base on how to deliver outcomes-focused services for older people and carers. The project aimed to identify: the service outcomes that were valued by older people and their carers; the organisational and other factors that helped or hindered the delivery of desired outcomes; and examples of good practice in outcomes-focused, person-centred services for older people and their carers. Outcomes' are defined as the impact, or end-results, of services on a person's life; therefore outcomes-focused services are those that aim to achieve the priorities that service users themselves identify as important. The project had two stages. The first covered research on the outcomes valued by older people and their carers; and examples of outcomes-focused practices, including changes in ways of funding, organising or commissioning services, assessment or review arrangements, or the activities of service provider organisations. A postal survey was undertaken to find out how widely outcomes-focused approaches were being developed in services for older people and carers across England and Wales, and the range of different projects or approaches involved. The study then focused on six localities in more depth, examining what changes had been made to the organisation and delivery of services; and the impact of those changes, from the perspectives of service users and carers, managers and front-line staff. The project was supported by an Advisory Group of Service Users, that met at key stages during the project. The Outcomes Network established by SPRU also contributed advice throughout the project.
This project was commissioned by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), to form the basis of practice guidance published by SCIE to support the implementation of proposals in the health and care White Paper, Our Health, Our Care, Our Say. It helped to strengthen the evidence base on how to deliver outcomes-focused services for older people and carers. The project aimed to identify: the service outcomes that were valued by older people and their carers; the organisational and other factors that helped or hindered the delivery of desired outcomes; and examples of good practice in outcomes-focused, person-centred services for older people and their carers. Outcomes' are defined as the impact, or end-results, of services on a person's life; therefore outcomes-focused services are those that aim to achieve the priorities that service users themselves identify as important. The project had two stages. The first covered research on the outcomes valued by older people and their carers; and examples of outcomes-focused practices, including changes in ways of funding, organising or commissioning services, assessment or review arrangements, or the activities of service provider organisations. A postal survey was undertaken to find out how widely outcomes-focused approaches were being developed in services for older people and carers across England and Wales, and the range of different projects or approaches involved. The study then focused on six localities in more depth, examining what changes had been made to the organisation and delivery of services; and the impact of those changes, from the perspectives of service users and carers, managers and front-line staff. The project was supported by an Advisory Group of Service Users, that met at key stages during the project. The Outcomes Network established by SPRU also contributed advice throughout the project.
Subject terms:
older people, organisational structure, outcomes, person-centred care, social services, social care provision, carers;
There is increasing pressure to devise a means of reflecting the outputs of social care in ways that can be used to reflect changes in productivity and efficiency. Professor Sir Tony Atkinson led a review for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the future development of government output, productivity and associated price indices (Atkinson, 2005). The review followed Eurostat guidance that countries should be developing direct measures of government services that are individually consumed. As part of this review and with the longer-term objective of improving measurement and understanding of PSS output and productivity in social care, the Department of Health funded work to develop new measures of personal social services (PSS) output and productivity, reflecting best available practice. This paper reports on the results of this work. An extensive search of the literature identified little theoretical discussion or empirical evidence in the field of measuring productivity and outputs of social care services. Most of the evidence was limited to evaluations of cost effectiveness of specific interventions or services for particular client groups. While valuable in their own right such studies do not address the central question of how to measure government output in social care services across client groups in a way that could be used to monitor changes in productivity over time. The first stage of the work was to develop a theoretically based approach and to identify how it might be applied (at least to some extent) using existing sources of data. The second stage (which we report on here) is to illustrate the application of the approach for measuring for National Accounts purposes outputs and services for older people using routine statistical sources and drawing on data collected as part of a study conducted to inform the Formula Spending Share The authors start by describing the overall approach to the welfare index and then in turn discuss the methodology and basis for estimating core components of this index: Capacity for Benefit and quality. In section 5 they illustrate the application of the approach to activity data in estimating outputs and changes in levels of output over time. Finally they discuss some of the issues raised by the application including the wider potential of the approach and data requirements if such an approach were to be used in the future for National Accounts.
There is increasing pressure to devise a means of reflecting the outputs of social care in ways that can be used to reflect changes in productivity and efficiency. Professor Sir Tony Atkinson led a review for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the future development of government output, productivity and associated price indices (Atkinson, 2005). The review followed Eurostat guidance that countries should be developing direct measures of government services that are individually consumed. As part of this review and with the longer-term objective of improving measurement and understanding of PSS output and productivity in social care, the Department of Health funded work to develop new measures of personal social services (PSS) output and productivity, reflecting best available practice. This paper reports on the results of this work. An extensive search of the literature identified little theoretical discussion or empirical evidence in the field of measuring productivity and outputs of social care services. Most of the evidence was limited to evaluations of cost effectiveness of specific interventions or services for particular client groups. While valuable in their own right such studies do not address the central question of how to measure government output in social care services across client groups in a way that could be used to monitor changes in productivity over time. The first stage of the work was to develop a theoretically based approach and to identify how it might be applied (at least to some extent) using existing sources of data. The second stage (which we report on here) is to illustrate the application of the approach for measuring for National Accounts purposes outputs and services for older people using routine statistical sources and drawing on data collected as part of a study conducted to inform the Formula Spending Share The authors start by describing the overall approach to the welfare index and then in turn discuss the methodology and basis for estimating core components of this index: Capacity for Benefit and quality. In section 5 they illustrate the application of the approach to activity data in estimating outputs and changes in levels of output over time. Finally they discuss some of the issues raised by the application including the wider potential of the approach and data requirements if such an approach were to be used in the future for National Accounts.
Subject terms:
older people, outcomes, public sector, social services, social care provision, economics, financing;
Housing Care and Support, 9(2), October 2006, pp.23-29.
Publisher:
Emerald
Extra care housing enables older people to remain in their 'own home', while providing appropriate housing and access to health and social care services that are responsive to their needs. This research explored the current levels of development and expansion of extra care housing in terms of the numbers of schemes and places and factors that contributed to and were problematic in its development. A stratified sample of 16 authorities was selected from 148 local authorities in England which had social services responsibilities: 13 agreed to participate. Each authority completed a brief form indicating its level of provision, and the leads were interviewed over the telephone. An opportunistic sample of three registered landlords was also selected. The findings illustrate that local authorities and the Government were united in their aims for developing extra care housing. However, the baseline for provision in the authorities was very limited in comparison with the number of care home places. Good working partnership between social services and housing departments was seen as the most significant factor in the successful development of schemes.
Extra care housing enables older people to remain in their 'own home', while providing appropriate housing and access to health and social care services that are responsive to their needs. This research explored the current levels of development and expansion of extra care housing in terms of the numbers of schemes and places and factors that contributed to and were problematic in its development. A stratified sample of 16 authorities was selected from 148 local authorities in England which had social services responsibilities: 13 agreed to participate. Each authority completed a brief form indicating its level of provision, and the leads were interviewed over the telephone. An opportunistic sample of three registered landlords was also selected. The findings illustrate that local authorities and the Government were united in their aims for developing extra care housing. However, the baseline for provision in the authorities was very limited in comparison with the number of care home places. Good working partnership between social services and housing departments was seen as the most significant factor in the successful development of schemes.
Subject terms:
housing departments, joint working, local authorities, older people, social services, social care provision, extra care housing;