A paper said that local authorities might be driving up the cost of privately funded care home places, and forcing other homes out of the market, by buying assisted places (for people eligible for state-funded care) at low prices.
Source: Ruth Hancock and Morten Hviid, Buyer Power and Price Discrimination: The case of the UK care homes market, Working Paper 2010-39, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex
Links: Working paper | Abstract | ISER press release | East Anglia University press release
Date: 2010-Dec
A new book examined the history and development of residential care.
Source: Julia Johnson, Sheena Rolph and Randall Smith, Residential Care Transformed: Revisiting 'The Last Refuge', Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Jun
A study examined the best way of meeting the future needs of older care home residents. Drawing on evidence from an in-depth study of three residential homes, it said that training care staff in basic clinical skills could enhance health and social care provision for older people in residential homes.
Source: Deidre Wild, Ala Szczepura and Sara Nelson, Residential Care Home Workforce Development: The rhetoric and reality of meeting older residents' future care needs, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | Warwick University press release | UWE press release
Date: 2010-May
A report described the experiences of the government's ambassador for its 'dignity in care' campaign. It called for an open public debate about the treatment of people in care, and for efforts to counter attitudes and assumptions that could be a barrier to good-quality care.
Source: Michael Parkinson, My Year as National Dignity Ambassador, Department of Health
Links: Report | DH press release | RCN press release | Alzheimers Society press release | Patients Association press release | Nursing Times report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Jan