A report examined the evidence base for effective social work with older people. It said that social work with older people should focus on the key social work tasks of assessment, care management, and review for people with complex needs, as distinct from the provision of social services to the majority of older people who had relatively straightforward needs.
Source: Brian Kerr, Jean Gordon, Charlotte MacDonald and Kirsten Stalker, Effective Social Work with Older People, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Date: 2005-Dec
Three briefing papers examined support services for older people. Health and social services could help transform the lives of many older people by investing more generously in small-scale, local services.
Source: The Older People's Inquiry: 'That little bit of help', York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033) | Involving Older People: What standards should we expect?, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Is Information Power? Older people, information, advice and advocacy, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Briefing 1 | Briefing 2 | Briefing 3 | JRF press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A think-tank report said that giving older people more choice and control over care services could bring real improvements to people s quality of life, and challenge stereotypes about ageing - provided the emphasis on promoting health and well-being for all older people was not lost.
Source: Jennifer Rankin, A Mature Policy on Choice, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Date: 2005-Nov
A social care inspectorate report on the experiences of older people after leaving hospital revealed that decisions made at the time of discharge from hospital could have long-term consequences. Very few people who went into residential care at this time returned to their own homes. Older people were less likely to need residential care if the right support and rehabilitation were offered to them on leaving hospital.
Source: Leaving Hospital Revisited: A follow-up study of a group of older people who were discharged from hospital in March 2004, Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
An audit report reviewed the Supporting People programme (launched in April 2003 to provide a better quality of life for vulnerable people and to help them live more independently). It said that services had improved, but that delivery on the ground was not consistently good. There needed to be a long-term commitment and a financial framework to underpin minimum standards.
Source: Supporting People, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release
Date: 2005-Oct
A report examined information, advice and advocacy services for older people. It focused on five key themes accessibility, independence, involvement, strategy, and standards.
Source: Andrew Dunning, Information, Advice and Advocacy for Older People: Defining and developing services, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2005-Sep
A report examined the issues around paying for long-term care for older people. It said that the existing system was unsustainable because it provided neither a clear-cut set of entitlements according to how much care people needed, nor a well-accepted set of rules about how much they should contribute according to ability to pay.
Source: Donald Hirsch, Facing the Cost of Long-term Care: Towards a sustainable funding system, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | JRF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Sep
A report identified "glaring omissions" in the protection of older people, leaving them exposed to mistreatment that could not be fully investigated or dealt with under the Human Rights Act.
Source: Rights at Risk: Older people and human rights, Help the Aged (020 7278 1114)
Links: Help the Aged press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Aug
A report said that funding shortages meant that crucial services for older people were being cut or diminished.
Source: What Price Care in Old Age?, Social Policy on Ageing Information Network, c/o Age Concern England (020 8765 7200)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jul
The Welsh Assembly government began consultation on a draft National Service Framework for Older People, setting out what older people could expect from health and social care services by setting national standards to drive up quality and reduce variations in service delivery.
Source: Draft National Service Framework for Older People in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | WAG press release
Date: 2005-Jul
An inquiry report said that London s care system for older people was under-funded and under-staffed, and offered little in the way of choice and quality. It warned that unless urgent action were taken even more older people would suffer from poor care in 20 years time.
Source: Janice Robinson and Penny Banks, The Business of Caring: King s Fund inquiry into care services for older people in London, King s Fund (020 7307 2591)
Links: Summary (pdf) | King's Fund press release
Date: 2005-Jun
An audit report said that solving the problem of delayed discharges from hospitals in Scotland needed action across all parts of the health and community care system.
Source: Moving On? An overview of delayed discharges in Scotland, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report (pdf) | Audit Scotland press release (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jun
A report said that thousands of grandparents were acting as foster parents in bringing up grandchildren whose parents were absent or had problems. It called for financial support to be made available to them.
Source: Oliver Blaiklock, Britain?s Pensioner Parents: The quandary of parenting your grandchildren, Office of Frank Field MP (020 7219 6636)
Links: Report (pdf) | Frank Field press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jun
A report by the fair trading regulator said that the care homes industry should provide older people with much better information about costs, contracts, and complaints procedures.
Source: Care Homes for Older People in the UK: A market study, Office of Fair Trading (0870 606 0321)
Links: Report (pdf) | OFT press release | CSCI press release | Help the Aged press release | Alzheimer's Society press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-May
A research report said that a "cultural divide" existed among social services purchasers. Some purchasers valued their home care providers helping older people in ways which supported customers morale and quality of life, and in consequence their providers felt encouraged to use relevant opportunities. But other purchasers discouraged such help.
Source: Charles Patmore and Alison McNulty, Making Home Care for Older People More Flexible and Person-centred: Factors which promote this, Social Policy Research Unit/University of York (01904 433608)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2005-May
An article discussed the implications for family care provision of changing demographics, and of new government policy on promoting independent living. It reviewed current understanding of family care and support for older people within ethnic minority families.
Source: Sarah Harper and Sonya Levin, 'Family care, independent living and ethnicity', Social Policy and Society, Volume 4 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Apr
The government's Social Exclusion Unit published an interim report on excluded older people. It identified three main areas where progress was needed: early support and preventative services, rather than crisis interventions when action could be too late; greater control and choice for older people to avoid untimely dependency; and more 'joined up' services linking support from areas such as benefits, housing and health.
Source: Excluded Older People: Interim Report, Social Exclusion Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 5550)
Links: Report (pdf) | SEU press release
Date: 2005-Mar
A report by a committee of MSPs said that the costs of providing free personal care for older people in Scotland could be greater than originally estimated.
Source: Report on Community Care, 2nd Report 2005, SP Paper 313, Scottish Parliament Audit Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release
Date: 2005-Mar
A report explored the health and social well-being of older people in Northern Ireland. It said that there was 'clearly a significant degree' of disability and need for help among older people.
Source: Eileen Evason, Katrina Lloyd and Pat McKee, Older People in Northern Ireland: Report 3 - Health and social wellbeing, Institute of Governance, Public Policy and Social Research/Queen s University Belfast (028 9097 2549)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Mar
Researchers said that the base cost of 70 million per annum for providing free personal care in the community for elderly people in Scotland needed to be increased by 18 million.
Source: Margaret Cuthbert and Jim Cuthbert, Free Care of the Elderly, Fraser of Allander Institute/University of Strathclyde (0141 548 3958)
Links: Community Care report
Date: 2005-Feb
A think tank announced that it had commissioned Derek Wanless to carry out a fundamental review into the long-term demand for, and supply of, social care for older people. The review would examine the demographic, economic, social, health, and other relevant trends over the following 20 years that were likely to affect the demand for, and nature of, social care for older people aged 65 and over in England; identify the financial and other resources required to ensure that older people who needed social care were able to secure comprehensive, high-quality care that reflected their preferences; and consider how such social care might be funded. (Derek Wanless conducted two independent reviews for the government on future healthcare spending.)
Source: Press release 31 January 2005, King s Fund (020 7307 2400)
Links: King's Fund press release | ADSS press release | TOPSS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan
