Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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"The poor carer": ambivalent social construction of the home care worker in elder care services
- Authors:
- TIMONEN Virpi, LOLICH Luciana
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 62(7), 2019, pp.728-748.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This article examines the social construction of the home care worker from the perspective of various professionals in the elder care sector in Ireland. The research, using the Grounded Theory method, involved focus groups with 31 participants comprising health and social work professionals as well as care agency managers and policy planners. The social construction of the elder care worker is characterised by ambivalence. The authors connect the concept of ambivalence at the micro level of human relationships to structural factors that are driving the ambivalence. Ambivalence towards home care workers is shaped by structural factors including the precariousness of care work, the commodification of time, and the stipulated personalisation of services. The irreconcilable contrasts between portrayals of care workers as both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are indicative of deep contradictions in the expectations that contemporary care systems direct at paid caregivers. Ambivalence arises from the commodified and dispensable status of care workers, and fundamental transformations in their training, working conditions and pay are required to move away from this ambivalence and towards care workers’ equal status with professionals in the care sector. (Edited publisher abstract)
Evaluation of Adult Protective Services: perspectives of community professionals
- Authors:
- DAUENHAUER Jason A., MAYER Kim Cattat, MASON Art
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 19(3/4), 2007, pp.41-57.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Difficulties with client characteristics, funding and the expectation of poor outcomes means that few studies have evaluated services provided by Adult Protective Services. This paper is based on responses by 58 community-based professionals in the US to a 12-item quantitative survey. It shows that respondents were most satisfied with the intake process, followed by assessment and case management. Satisfaction levels were higher than expected although areas for improvement were identified. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
Older people’s views and expectations about the competences of health and social care professionals: a European qualitative study
- Authors:
- SOARES Celia Casaca, et al
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Ageing: Social, Behavioural and Health Perspectives, 16(1), 2019, pp.53-62.
- Publisher:
- Springer Netherlands
Adapting and providing quality services for people as they age is a common challenge across Europe. The perspective of older people is fundamental in a person-centred care approach. Expanding research at the European level that explicitly includes their views can offer a relevant contribution to the development of evidence-based guidelines that can be shared in education and training across health and social care professions. This study aimed to identify common meaningful dimensions of professional competence in health and social care emphasised by older people from six countries in different regions of Europe according to their experiences. A qualitative approach was chosen with a total of 95 semi-structured interviews conducted in Austria, Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Turkey and UK, following a common topic guide. Participants in this study were aged 60 and above, and recruitment considered age, gender, level of education and living arrangements. Results identified a set of universal skills and practices that according to older people, health and social care professionals should meet. Competences at the interpersonal level were central in older people’s discourses, and its core dimensions are anchored in relational, communication and socio-emotional skills of professionals. These findings reinforce the aspiration of establishing best practices in care that relies on the harmonisation of a competence framework that can be shared in the training and education of health and social care professionals across Europe and that voices older people’s preferences, expectations and needs (Edited publisher abstract)
The interprofessional clinical experience: interprofessional education in the nursing home
- Authors:
- SHEPPARD Kendra D., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Interprofessional Care, 29(2), 2015, pp.170-172.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The interprofessional clinical experience (ICE) was designed to introduce trainees to the roles of different healthcare professionals, provide an opportunity to participate in an interprofessional team, and familiarise trainees with caring for older adults in the nursing home setting. Healthcare trainees from seven professions (dentistry, medicine, nursing, nutrition, occupational therapy, optometry and social work) participated in ICE. This programme consisted of individual patient interviews followed by a team meeting to develop a comprehensive care plan. To evaluate the impact of ICE on attitudinal change, the UCLA Geriatric Attitudes Scale and a post-experience assessment were used. The post-experience assessment evaluated the trainees’ perception of potential team members’ roles and attitudes about interprofessional team care of the older adult. Attitudes toward interprofessional teamwork and the older adult were generally positive. ICE is a novel program that allows trainees across healthcare professions to experience interprofessional teamwork in the nursing home setting. (Edited publisher abstract)
Decision making in detecting and preventing financial abuse of older adults: a study of managers and professionals in health, social care, and banking
- Authors:
- GILHOOLY Mary, et al
- Publisher:
- University of Sheffield. NDA Research Programme
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 8
- Place of publication:
- Sheffield
Reports key findings of judgement and decision making by social work, health and banking professionals in detecting financial abuse of older people. Study participants took part in interviews and examined case scenarios. Policy documents were also analysed to explore how suspected abuse was defined and managed within local authority, NHS, and banking procedures. Finding cover issues that trigger suspicions of financial abuse, action taken when financial abuse is suspected; issues that make decision making difficult; and available policy and guidance. (Edited publisher abstract)
Measurement scales used in elderly care
- Author:
- GUPTA Abhaya
- Publisher:
- Radcliffe
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 154p.
- Place of publication:
- Oxford
This concise ready reference for daily use collates for the first time the most useful, practical and simple assessment scales used in geriatric settings. It provides tools to identify clinical conditions and health outcomes objectively and reliably. It is essential as a clinical primer and everyday reference guide for all practising and training members of multidisciplinary teams, including consultants and doctors in specialist training, career grade doctors and general practitioners, and medical students; nurses, health visitors, dieticians, and social workers; allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists; and managers of elderly care services.
The social work role with older people
- Authors:
- LYMBERY Mark, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 19(2), June 2007, pp.97-113.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper focuses on the role of social workers with older people, drawing on a project carried out in a Midlands Social Services Department. It argues that this role has never been clearly defined, even though the advent of community care ensured an increase in the numbers of practitioners employed in this area of activity. It also suggests that the introduction of care management has tied social workers to the discipline of assessment and has not enabled them to carry out the more detailed and in-depth work that would be common with other service user groups. The authors suggest that the adoption of a grid defining the proper contribution of qualified social workers to practice with older people might both enable scarce resources to be used more productively while clarifying the specific aspects of work on which a qualified social worker should concentrate. They also reflect on the importance of considering the adoption of approaches to practice that go beyond the individualistic focus that has become the staple of social work with older people.
Social work involvement in end of life planning
- Authors:
- HEYMAN Janna C., GUTHEIL Irene A.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 47(3/4), 2006, pp.47-61.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This cross sectional study examined the factors associated with social workers' involvement in end-of-life (EOL) planning using a random sample of NASW members in health and aging in the United States. Of the 390 social workers who worked in EOL planning, the majority were involved in health care proxy discussions and counselling with patients. Respondents tended to see barriers to proxy completion as client-related. However, some system barriers were correlated with overall involvement. Factors that predicted social workers' involvement with the health care proxy included age, attitudes, perceptions of barriers, and perceived physician support. Social workers need to attend to the systems in which they operate as well as to client concerns. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
United we stand? Partnership working in health and social care and the role of social work in services for older people
- Author:
- LYMBERY Mark
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 36(7), October 2006, pp.1119-1134.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The concepts of ‘partnership’ and ‘collaboration’ have become amongst the most critical themes of ‘new’ Labour’s social policy, particularly in respect of the delivery of health and social care. Although the terms are rarely precisely defined and hence have become problematic to analyse, in most understandings successful partnerships rely upon good systems of inter-professional collaboration. Through revisiting the extensive literature on the sociology of the professions, and the nature of inter-professional working, this paper will argue that effective collaborative working within health and social care is hard to achieve, particularly in the light of the vast differences in power and culture between various occupational groupings, and the inherently competitive nature of professions jostling for territory in the same areas of activity. It suggests that these issues cannot be resolved unless they are properly understood; a rhetorical appeal to the unmitigated benefits of ‘partnership’ alone will not produce more effective joint working. In addition, it notes that an appropriate role for social work in the context of partnership working has yet to be defined and proposes specific tasks and values that distinguish the social worker from other related professionals.
The role of professional education in promoting the dignity of older people
- Author:
- ASKHAM Janet
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing, 6(2), July 2005, pp.10-16.
- Publisher:
- Pier Professional
- Place of publication:
- Brighton
This paper considers the education of social and health care professionals who work with and care for older people. It asks whether education can promote the dignity of older people, how this may be done, what factors may ease or impede the promotion of dignity within professional education, and what part eduation plays alongside other influences on care practices. Beginning with consideration of research on the nature of professional education, the paper reviews principles of professional education, cultures and methods of teaching and learning and processes of practical apprenticeship. The paper argues that there are a number of challenges to the promotion of dignity within professional education, for example, inconsistencies in development of professional values, curriculum contradictions such as those between education for management and for direct care of older people, the balance between theory and practice and education for practice under changing real-world conditions.