An article examined the extent of integrated working between care homes and primary and community health and social services in England. More integrated working had the potential to improve quality of care in a cost-effective manner: but strategic decisions to create more formal arrangements were required to bring this about. Commissioners of services for older people needed to capitalize on good working relationships and address idiosyncratic patterns of provision to care homes.
Source: Heather Gage, Angela Dickinson, Christina Victor, Peter Williams, Jerome Cheynel, Sue L Davies, Steve Iliffe, Katherine Froggatt, Wendy Martin, and Claire Goodman, 'Integrated working between residential care homes and primary care: a survey of care homes in England', BMC Geriatrics, Volume 12
Date: 2012-Dec
The competition watchdog for the National Health Service examined how the rules on competition applied to delivery models aimed at integrating care for patients and service users. It set out the characteristics of the models of delivery of integrated care that were unlikely to fall foul of competition rules and those that were more likely to do so.
Source: The Implications of Competition Rules for the Delivery of Integrated Care, Co-Operation and Competition Panel for NHS-Funded Services
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Dec
A new book examined the core themes in social work, highlighting poverty as a central experience of the people with whom social workers worked.
Source: Martin Sheedy, Core Themes in Social Work: Power, poverty, politics and values, Open University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Dec
An article examined the outcomes of an individual budgets pilot in social care. For some groups there were clear benefits from individual budgets: but a 'one-size-fits-all' approach was not appropriate. It was important to consider how best to address the particular challenges for older people, the effects on social work practice, and the resource implications. Social workers might find themselves implementing a policy with considerable potential, but which might prove very difficult to achieve in the existing financial climate.
Source: Ann Netten, Karen Jones, Martin Knapp, Jose Luis Fernandez, David Challis, Caroline Glendinning, Sally Jacobs, Jill Manthorpe, Nicola Moran, Martin Stevens, and Mark Wilberforce, 'Personalisation through individual budgets: does it work and for whom?', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 42 Number 8
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A paper examined what could be learned about self-directed support from existing research, related initiatives, and experience outside Scotland.
Source: Susan Hunter, Charlotte Pearson, and Sally Witcher, Self-Directed Support (SDS): Preparing for Delivery, Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services
Links: Paper
Notes: The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Bill is under consideration by the Scottish Parliament.
Date: 2012-Nov
A report said that National Health Service commissioners should use a 'dual carriageway' approach to roll out personal health budgets, ensuring that they complemented arrangements already used in social care. It introduced the idea of joint personal budgets for health and social care.
Source: Joint Personal Budgets: A new solution to the problem of integrated care?, NHS Confederation
Links: Report | NHS Confederation press release
Date: 2012-Oct
A report said that too much health and social care was in the wrong place and organized in the wrong way. There was growing concern about the capacity of the National Health Service to sustain a high-quality and safe service. It made a series of recommendations, including calls for:
• A change in the law to create a 'statutory duty of candour' to overcome 'long-standing and persistent culture of secrecy, cover-up and authoritarian management in the NHS'.
• Implementation of the Dilnot Commission reforms as a necessary first step for ensuring sufficient funding for social care.
• Urgent work to ensure that the safety and quality of hospitals did not vary according to how old the patient was or when they were admitted.
• A concerted drive by NHS organisations to involve and listen to patients and carers.
Source: Not the Francis Report, National Voices
Links: Report | National Voices press release | NHS Confederation press release
Date: 2012-Oct
A new book examined the practical, philosophical, and theoretical issues at the heart of user involvement in social care.
Source: Peter Beresford and Sarah Carr (eds), Social Care, Service Users and User Involvement, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined how enterprises based on co-operative values could help to meet social care needs. It drew on case studies of two new co-operative enterprises intended to demonstrate how personalized adult social care could be extended by developing collaborative, co-operative organizational forms.
Source: Jenny Fisher, Susan Baines, and Mary Rayner, 'Personalisation and the co-operative tradition', Social Policy and Society, Volume 11 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
A think-tank report examined how the existing health and social care delivery system had failed to keep pace with the population's needs and expectations. Incremental changes to existing models of care would not be sufficient in addressing these challenges, and a much bolder approach was needed – one bringing about innovative models that were appropriate to the needs of the population and were high quality, sustainable, and offered value for money.
Source: Chris Ham, Anna Dixon, and Beatrice Brooke, Transforming the Delivery of Health and Social Care: The case for fundamental change, King's Fund
Links: Report | Summary | NHS Confederation press release | RCN press release
Date: 2012-Sep
A study identified research evidence on commissioning (or public service purchasing) in education, health, and/or social welfare; and investigated the impact of joint commissioning.
Source: Mark Newman, Mukdarut Bangpan, Naira Kalra, Nicholas Mays, Irene Kwan, and Tony Roberts, Commissioning in Health, Education and Social Care: Models, research bibliography and in-depth review of joint commissioning between health and social care agencies, Report 2007, EPPI-Centre (Institute of Education/University of London)
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined how individual budgets affected the targeting of social care support in England. It was found that levels of allocated resources reflected a range of factors, including informal or carer support and disability levels. Individual budgets were found to be cost-neutral compared with conventional social care delivery.
Source: Karen Jones, Ann Netten, Jose-Luis Fernandez, Martin Knapp, David Challis, Caroline Glendinning, Sally Jacobs, Jill Manthorpe, Nicola Moran, Martin Stevens, and Mark Wilberforce, 'The impact of individual budgets on the targeting of support: findings from a national evaluation of pilot projects in England', Public Money and Management, Volume 32 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined the leadership challenges in workforce planning in adult social care, focusing on England. The key challenges were: growing demands on services; rising expectations for personalized care and support; and pressure to provide safe and effective joined-up care. Leaders needed to ensure a robust data and evidence base, sound interpretation of intelligence, and integrated approaches to workforce planning both within and between services.
Source: Rhidian Hughes, 'The future (of the future) adult social care workforce – key issues for leaders', International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, Volume 8 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
An article said that the report of an official review of social work in Scotland (published in 2006) had failed to offer any significantly new principles or policies. Instead it had shifted the focus away from a long-standing Scottish concern to promote social welfare on a community basis towards an individualized conception of well-being.
Source: Chris Clark and Mark Smith, 'Changing Lives: what is really changing for Scottish social work?', European Journal of Social Work, Volume 15 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
A new book examined issues of race and ethnicity in social work practice in Europe.
Source: Charlotte Williams and Mekada Graham, Social Work in Europe: Race and ethnic relations, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Aug
Two linked reports examined the potential direct and indirect influences of various kinds of technologies on the long-term care sector in Europe.
Source: Angelo Rossi Mori (with Roberto Dandi, Marta Mazzeo, Rita Verbicaro, and Gregorio Mercurio), Technological Solutions Potentially Influencing the Future of Long-Term Care, Research Report 114, European Network of Economic Policy Research Institutes | Marta Mazzeo, Patrizia Agnello, and Angelo Rossi Mori (with Marie-Eve Joel, Alain Berard, Marko Ogorevc, Valentina Prevolnik Rupel, Roberto Dandi, and Luca Giustiniano), Role and Potential Influence of Technologies on the Most Relevant Challenges for Long-Term Care, Research Report 113, European Network of Economic Policy Research Institutes
Links: Report 114 | Report 113
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined the links between emerging concepts of citizenship and their relationship with adult protection. Models of citizenship had altered over time to reflect societal norms and customs; and this paradigm shift had legitimized intervention in the lives of adults.
Source: Ailsa Stewart and Jacqueline Atkinson, 'Citizenship and adult protection in the UK: an exploration of the conceptual links', Journal of Adult Protection, Volume 14 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper examined the role of 'resource allocation systems' in the development of self-directed support. Too many of these systems were bureaucratic, obscure, and without empirical foundation. There was also a grave danger that they were being used to make illegal and unjustified cuts to social care. A much simpler approach was necessary – together with a period of time to test and compare different models. Scotland, which was at the beginning of developing systems of self-directed support, should try not to repeat the mistakes made in England.
Source: Simon Duffy and Keith Etherington, A Fair Budget, Centre for Welfare Reform
Links: Paper | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined how to make social care in England more sustainable in the context of environmental, social, and economic changes. There was a need to develop innovative systems of social care based on co-production, mutualism, and localism.
Source: Simon Evans, Sarah Hills, and Judy Orme, 'Doing more for less? Developing sustainable systems of social care in the context of climate change and public spending cuts', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 42 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A report said that private equity had not led to service disruption in social care, and could prove a vital source of investment in future years.
Source: The Role of Private Equity in UK Health & Care Services, Laing & Buisson
Links: Report | L&B press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jul
A report examined the role of volunteering in the provision of social services.
Source: Catherine Wilton, Volunteering: Unlocking the Real Wealth of People and Communities, Think Local, Act Personal
Links: Report | TLAP press release | Charity Times report
Date: 2012-Jul
A report said that progress on reforming support systems for the social work profession (in line with the recommendations of a 2009 taskforce report) had been slower than hoped, hampered by public spending cuts.
Source: Social Work Reform Board, Building a Safe and Confident Future: Maintaining Momentum, Department for Education
Links: Report | DE press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the limits of law to resolve or transform the dilemmas provoked by the provision of social care to adults. It juxtaposed the judgments in two cases, in 2002 and 2007, concerning the mixed economy of care.
Source: Helen Carr and Caroline Hunter, 'Are judicial approaches to adult social care at a dead-end?', Social and Legal Studies, Volume 21 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the development of the concept of personalization and its dependence upon prior innovations such as independent living, person-centred planning, and individual budgets; and explored its meaning, limitations, and future prospects. Recent reforms that went by the name of 'personalization' might mark an important stage in the development of a fairer system for people with learning disabilities, along with other disabled people: but on their own they would be insufficient to achieve that objective.
Source: Simon Duffy, 'The limits of personalisation', Tizard Learning Disability Review, Volume 17 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A survey of local authorities in England examined the way in which local authorities in England assessed eligibility for services – in terms of the processes used for assessing and classifying need for services, the relationship between combinations of need-characteristics and groups, and the targeting of resources across need groups.
Source: Jose-Luis Fernandez and Tom Snell, Survey of Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) Assessment Criteria Among Local Authorities in England, Discussion Paper 2825, Personal Social Services Research Unit
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the governance of adult safeguarding policy and practice in England, with particular focus on inter-agency partnership arrangements expressed through Safeguarding Adults Boards.
Source: Suzy Braye, David Orr, and Michael Preston-Shoot, 'The governance of adult safeguarding: findings from research', Journal of Adult Protection, Volume 14 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A report set out the case for a model of 'local area co-ordination' in social care in England and Wales. The existing system waited for crises and then responded with services: this was wasteful and damaging to communities. Local area co-ordinators, based in communities, would provide support for older and disabled people without eligibility restrictions, in order to promote independence.
Source: Ralph Broad, Local Area Co-Ordination: From service users to citizens, Centre for Welfare Reform
Links: Report | Summary | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Jun
A study examined the existing state of knowledge in relation to the delivery of social care in England by third sector organizations. The findings were set out in relation to the themes of: approaches to research in third sector and social care; the distinctiveness of the third sector in delivering social care; relationships with commissioners of social care; and the role of volunteers.
Source: Helen Dickinson, Kerry Allen, Pete Alcock, Rob Macmillan, and Jon Glasby, The Role of the Third Sector in Delivering Social Care, School for Social Care Research, National Institute for Health Research
Date: 2012-May
The coalition government published a 10-year information strategy for the National Health Service, public health, and social care. It included a commitment that people would be able to access their family doctor records online by 2015.
Source: The Power of Information: Putting all of us in control of the health and care information we need, Department of Health
Links: Strategy | Hansard | DH press release | ADASS press release | Alzheimers Society press release | BMA press release | Kings Fund press release | NCB press release | NHS Alliance press release | NHS Confederation press release | RCP press release | RPS press release
Date: 2012-May
A briefing paper examined the factors that promoted, and hindered, joint working between health and social care services. There was a significant overlap between positive and negative factors, with many of the organizational factors identified in research as promoting joint working also being identified as hindering collaboration when insufficient attention was paid to their importance. Securing the understanding and commitment of staff to the aims and desired outcomes of new partnerships was crucial to the success of joint working, particularly among health professionals.
Source: Ailsa Cameron, Rachel Lart, Lisa Bostock, and Caroline Coomber, Factors that Promote and Hinder Joint and Integrated Working Between Health and Social Care Services, Research Briefing 41, Social Care Institute for Excellence
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the recent restructuring and subsequent convergence of European long-term care models. It highlighted the increased role of migrant care workers, and the need for greater social and governmental recognition for all care providers. The provision of long-term care was complex, divided between state, market, and family providers; the state alone could not and did not act as the sole provider of care. The extent to which different sectors were relied upon was largely dependent on the ideology of the country's welfare state.
Source: Alice Anderson, 'Europe s care regimes and the role of migrant care workers within them', Journal of Population Ageing, Volume 5 Number 2
Date: 2012-May
The Scottish Government began consultation on its proposals to integrate adult health and social care services.
Source: Integration of Adult Health and Social Care in Scotland: Consultation on Proposals, Scottish Government
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2012-May
A report by a committee of MSPs said that the voluntary sector and independent providers of care should have a greater role in delivering integrated health and social care.
Source: Inquiry Into Integration of Health and Social Care, 5th Report 2012, SP Paper 121, Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee
Links: Report | Scottish Parliament press release
Date: 2012-May
An article drew on a Scottish research study to explore the relationship between (on the one hand) social care professionals' perceptions of specific perpetrators/victims and (on the other) their constructions of 'adult protection' issues in practice. Professionals' perceptions of victim distress did not consistently coincide with the construction of adult protection issues, although the connexion with any assessment of victims' heightened vulnerability in specific cases was not clear. With respect to perpetrators, there were different rules for relatives, staff, and service-user perpetrators, although harms attributed to institutions were de-emphasized.
Source: Fiona Johnson, 'What is an "adult protection" issue? Victims, perpetrators and the professional construction of adult protection issues', Critical Social Policy, Volume 32 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the implications of cash-for-care systems for the relationships between users and care workers, based on a qualitative study in Norway and the United Kingdom. The UK system tended to foster one of two kinds of relationships – a master-servant type of relationship or a strong solidarity/emotion-based relationship: the Norwegian system tended to encourage a more professional type of relationship. In everyday practice, however, relationships could be mixed types or they could even resist the direction more usually taken within the particular cash-for-care system.
Source: Karen Christensen, 'Towards sustainable hybrid relationships in cash-for-care systems', Disability & Society, Volume 27 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
A report said that the personalization agenda in social care encouraged innovation, offering the potential to create new markets around localized and individual needs, to focus fiscal resources directly and discretely, and to enable small groups of individuals to 'positively disrupt' a complex and opaque system. But the success of the personalization agenda in future would depend upon answering fundamental questions about the nature of future supply and demand for public services. This meant exploring what the role of families, communities, and collaborative groups could be in designing and providing support and creating inclusive communities. It meant defining what was needed to catalyze and sustain a much broader market of services that would take personalization to the next level.
Source: Alex Fox, Personalisation: Lessons from Social Care, 2020 Public Services Hub
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book provided a radical re-examination of the nature of social care, the way it was practised, and its purpose. Rather than being confined to a qualified cohort of designated carers, social care was an activity for all: it was the gateway to the humanization of both care-giver and care-receiver. Yet the process of humanization, in order to be effective, needed to encompass both the personal and political worlds. The resultant integral social care could be re-imagined as 'compassionate activism'.
Source: Mark Garavan, Compassionate Activism: An exploration of integral social care, Peter Lang
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
A report examined the deinstitutionalization of social care in Europe, and the development of community-based alternatives. The transition from institutional to community-based care was desirable and – despite difficulties – achievable if all stakeholders played their part in the process – researchers, European Union institutions, and member states.
Source: Dorota Tomalak (with Stephen Barnett and John Halloran), Developing Community Care, European Social Network)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Apr
A report examined the implications of implementing key proposals by the Dilnot and Law Commissions in respect of assessment and eligibility for publicly funded adult social care. It said that this would require a number of complex practical issues to be addressed.
Source: Melanie Henwood, Crossing the Threshold: The implications of the Dilnot Commission and Law Commission reports for eligibility and assessment in care and support, Social Care Institute for Excellence
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Mar
A report summarized the outcome of two seminars that brought together service users, carers, social care practitioners and policy-makers to discuss the future of personalization at a time of limited resources. Many users and carers had positive experiences of personalization and there were examples of good practice: but the number of people receiving truly personalized services remained very low and cuts to services might make this situation worse.
Source: People not Processes: The future of personalisation and independent living, Social Care Institute for Excellence
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Mar
A report examined the challenge of introducing personal budgets for all social care users, and the important role that individual service funds (ISFs) could play in making choice and control work for people with the most complex needs.
Source: Helen Sanderson, Sam Bennett, Simon Stockton, and Jaimee Lewis, Choice and Control for All: The role of individual service funds in delivering fully personalised care and support, Groundswell UK
Links: Report
Notes: Under an individual service fund arrangement, the money in a personal budget is held by a provider on the individual's behalf. The provider commits to spend the money only on the individual's service and the management and support necessary to provide that service (not into a general pooled budget).
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined a range of issues connected with interprofessional working in health and social care.
Source: Georgina Koubel and Hilary Bungay (eds.), Rights, Risks and Responsibilities: Interprofessional working in health and social care, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined ethical challenges in social work practice.
Source: Annie Pullen-Sansfacon and Stephen Cowden, The Ethical Foundations of Social Work, Pearson Education
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined policy, law, key theories, and research findings in relation to social work with adults. It focused on four major themes – personalization, mental health, substance use, and old age.
Source: Martin Brett Davies (ed.), Social Work with Adults, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
The final report was published of a two-year independent study of integrated care pilots. The evaluation looked at 16 sites across England that undertook different ways of integrating care – for example, between general practices, community nurses, hospitals, and social services.
Source: RAND Europe and Ernst & Young LLP, National Evaluation of the Department of Health s Integrated Care Pilots: Final Report, Department of Health
Links: Report | Summary | Appendices | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Mar
A briefing paper examined the evidence base for health and social care integration. It said that there was clear evidence that structural integration did not deliver effective service improvement; and that there was as yet no robust evidence for positive financial benefits from integration.
Source: Alison Petch, Integration of Health and Social Care, Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper updated a previous (2007) review of research into the incidence and management of risk in adult social care in England. It addressed gaps identified in the earlier review, with new studies on the experiences of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities.
Source: Wendy Mitchell, Kate Baxter, and Caroline Glendinning, Updated Review of Research on Risk and Adult Social Care in England, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Notes: 2007 Study
Date: 2012-Feb
A new book examined theories of citizenship, capacity, and choice when supporting vulnerable adults – using as a model the impact of the early implementation of the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007.
Source: Ailsa Stewart, Supporting Vulnerable Adults: Citizenship, capacity, choice, Dunedin Academic Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the main dimensions of quality and risk in social care, based on a study carried out in Northern Ireland.
Source: Brian Taylor and Barbara Campbell, 'Quality, risk and governance: social workers' perspectives', International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, Volume 7 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined social care users' fears and concerns about risk; identified additional risks to those commonly identified by professionals and policy-makers; and explored how perceptions of risk and rights were significantly different for mental health service users.
Source: Alison Faulkner, The Right to Take Risks: Service users views of risk in adult social care, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the background to the policy shift towards personalization of health and social care; assessed the 'limited' research evidence for personalization; and identified themes for future policy research.
Source: Jason Powell, 'Personalization and community care: a case study of the British system', Ageing International, Volume 37 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined choice for social care users and their carers. It considered the kinds of choices that were important; the domains or aspects of services within which exercising choice was particularly important; the options for the exercise of choice, and users' preferences and priorities; the barriers and constraints that impeded the exercise of choice; initiatives and interventions that enabled service users to exercise (more) choice; the tensions and trade-offs between different choices, and between the choices of disabled people and the choices of carers; and how choice could contribute to improved independence and well-being among disabled young people, adults, older people, parents, and carers.
Source: Caroline Glendinning, Hilary Arksey, Kate Baxter, Bryony Beresford, Janet Heaton, Peter Kemp, Wendy Mitchell, Nicola Moran, Gillian Parker, Parvaneh Rabiee, Tricia Sloper, and Mark Wilberforce, Choice and Independence Over the Lifecourse, Working Paper DHP 2470, Social Policy Research Unit (University of York)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Feb
An article provided an overview of recent reforms to the social care system in England. The reforms would bring about some benefits, but their long-term impact was still very uncertain. The changing political and economic environment, and the inherent difficulties that reform suggested, indicated that these changes would be subject to significant differences in interpretation for some time.
Source: Simon Duffy, 'Personalisation in social care – what does it really mean?', Social Care and Neurodisability, Volume 2 Number 4
Links: Article
Date: 2012-Feb
A report examined the different structures and processes used by the National Health Service, universities, and local authorities to ensure proper governance of adult social care research.
Source: John Woolham, Research Governance and Ethics for Adult Social Care Research: Procedures, practices and challenges, National Institute for Health Research (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan
An article took a longitudinal perspective on the use of direct payments. Direct payment recipients needed support in understanding the long-term issues that might arise, as well as monitoring and advice from knowledgeable practitioners as their situations, needs, and capabilities changed through time.
Source: Hilary Arksey and Kate Baxter, 'Exploring the temporal aspects of direct payments', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 42 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
An article summarized the research literature on children's and parents' involvement in social work decision-making. Involvement tended to be 'messy, difficult and compromised'. Different individuals or groups might have different understandings of participation and related concepts, while differences of age and disability also mediated effective user engagement.
Source: Michael Gallagher, Mark Smith, Mark Hardy, and Heather Wilkinson, 'Children and families involvement in social work decision making', Children & Society, Volume 26 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
A report examined the ethical challenges posed by factoring environmental outcomes into different levels of health and social care decision-making, including resource allocation and treatments.
Source: Gary Cox and Catherine Max, The Ethics of Sustainable Health and Social Care: Towards a framework for decision-making, Report 51, Social Care Institute for Excellence
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan
A new textbook examined commissioning in health and social care. It said that policy aspirations often outstripped the infrastructure needed to support commissioners as they took difficult decisions about future services.
Source: Jon Glasby (ed.), Commissioning for Health and Well-Being: An introduction, Policy Press
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jan