A paper examined the factors that influenced the utilization of home-based long-term care in western Europe. Utilization of services was closely linked to the policy priorities, financing, and organization of the long-term care system. In countries where a greater policy emphasis was put on home-based care, its utilization was higher compared with other countries.
Source: Sonila Tomini, Wim Groot, and Milena Pavlova, The Determinants of Home Based Long-Term Care Utilisation in Western European Countries, Working Paper 2012-069, Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (Netherlands)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
A report said that a radical shake-up of the government's home adaptations system, including supporting family doctors to prescribe home improvements for older and disabled people, could both improve care and save public money.
Source: Home Solutions to Our Care Crisis, Papworth Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Nov
A study examined existing practice in commissioning for outcomes in domiciliary care in England. It identified the challenges and opportunities involved, and examples of innovative practice. A sizeable minority of local government officers said that outcomes-based commissioning was only used to a limited degree'.
Source: Lauren Lucas and Jonathan Carr-West, Outcomes Matter: Effective commissioning in domiciliary care, Local Government Information Unit
Links: Report | Summary | LGIU blog post
Date: 2012-Oct
A report set out some of the key challenges facing home care for older people in England, and outlined a new model for its future. It warned that if a fragmented set of services provided by a wide range of organizations continued in the face of an increasingly ageing population, the system was likely to collapse.
Source: Where the Heart Is... A review of the older people's home care market in England, Institute of Public Care (Oxford Brookes University)
Links: Report | Brookes press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Oct
A study examined the dynamics of change experienced by Belgium, England, Germany, and Italy in their home care sectors, focusing on the process of 'marketization'.
Source: Florence Degavre and Marthe Nyssens (eds), Care Regimes on the Move: Comparing home care for dependent older people in Belgium, England, Germany and Italy, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche Travail, Etat et Societe, (Universite Catholique de Louvain, Charleroi, Belgium)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Sep
The older people's watchdog for Wales said that the majority of older people receiving home care in Wales, around 80 per cent, reported being very positive about the care that they received. But a sizeable minority, 20 per cent, said that good quality care was inconsistent or even non-existent.
Source: My Home, My Care, My Voice: Older people's experiences of home care in Wales, Older People's Commission for Wales
Links: Report | OPCW press release | UKHCA press release
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined informal and formal home-care use among older adults in European countries. Older adults were more likely to receive informal care only in countries with fewer home-based services, less residential care, more informal care support, and more women working full time. The incorporation of societal determinants rather than commonly used welfare state classifications resulted in a better understanding of the conditions that determined older adults' care use.
Source: Bianca Suanet, Marjolein Broese Van Groenou, and Theo Van Tilburg, 'Informal and formal home-care use among older adults in Europe: can cross-national differences be explained by societal context and composition?', Ageing and Society, Volume 32 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
An investigation highlighted 'shocking' examples of poor home care of vulnerable people.
Source: Press release 16 March 2012, Consumers' Association
Links: Consumers Association press release | BASW press release | GMB press release | LGA press release | UKHCA press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Mar