A report said that a scheme brought to England from the United States to reduce unplanned emergency hospital admissions for frail elderly people might not work as originally intended. Although popular with patients and carers, the scheme had no significant impact on rates of emergency admission, length of stay, or mortality.
Source: Ruth Boaden et al., Evercare Evaluation: Final Report, National Primary Care Research and Development Centre (0161 275 0611)
Links: Report | Summary | NPCRDC press release | BMJ article | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Dec
The government announced that the scheme to deliver help to assist older and disabled people with the switch to digital television would cost around £600 million, ring-fenced in the forthcoming television licence fee settlement. The help scheme would be free to older and disabled people who received income-related benefits; those who did not would pay a subsidized fee of £40.
Source: Press release 19 December 2006, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: DCMS press release
Date: 2006-Dec
The social care inspectorate highlighted some of the risk-related factors that might prevent older people from living life the way they chose. Agencies and staff needed to consider whether they had the balance right between enabling the personal choices of individuals and the perceived risk to organizations if things went wrong.
Source: Making Choices: Taking Risks, Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report | CSCI press release | Age Concern press release
Date: 2006-Dec
An article examined the potential impact and practical difficulties of mainstreaming equalities in support at home for minority and majority ethnic older people. Challenges included a need for a more grounded approach, better engagement with user groups, and a need to focus on understanding issues of implementation.
Source: Alison Bowes, 'Mainstreaming equality: implications of the provision of support at home for majority and minority ethnic older people', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 40 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Dec
A report examined the growing needs of an ageing population. Government funding for social care had not kept pace with the demands of an ageing population - grant support for services such as social care had increased by just 14 per cent in real terms since 1997-98, while spending in the period 1994-05 to 2004-05 had increased by 65 per cent.
Source: Without a Care?, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release
Date: 2006-Dec
A paper examined a range of options for paying for long-term care. It presented projections of the possible future costs of long-term care under the existing funding arrangements, and under a number of options involving changes to the funding arrangements.
Source: Ruth Hancock et al., Paying for Long-Term Care for Older People in the UK: Modelling the costs and distributional effects of a range of options, Discussion Paper 2336, Personal Social Services Research Unit/University of Kent (01227 823963)
Links: Paper
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined the legal framework for working with older people. It covered the range of legal issues affecting the welfare and financial security of older people in the community and in residential settings.
Source: Ann McDonald and Margaret Taylor (eds.), Older People and the Law, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined the historical development of performance indicators within social care for older people, and measurement issues associated with them.
Source: David Challis, Paul Clarkson and Raymond Warburton, Performance Indicators in Social Care for Older People, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
The social care inspectorate said that local councils should rethink how they organized home care visits, in order to give care workers more time to respond to individual needs. Care visits were often too rushed to allow a safe and dignified service.
Source: Time to Care? An overview of home care services for older people in England, 2006, Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report | Summary | CSCI press release | LGA press release | Help the Aged press release | Alzheimers Society press release | DHN press release | UKHCA press release | Community Care report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Oct
A report called for a national debate on a long-term strategy for better care and support for older people, and how to fund it fairly. It proposed a state-supported equity release schemes to help older people make better use of their assets and stay in their own homes; proper funding of care home places, and fair implementation of a new continuing care funding framework; and the provision of independent care advisers in every community.
Source: Jessica Asato, Fit for the Future: A new vision for older people s care and support, Counsel and Care (020 7241 8523)
Links: Report | Counsel and Care press release
Date: 2006-Oct
A report said that demand for places in residential settings for elderly and physically disabled people was projected to increase by nearly 6 per cent by 2016.
Source: Care of Elderly People: UK Market Report 2006, Laing & Buisson (020 7833 9123)
Links: L&B press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that older people who needed to pay for social care services were subjected to a 'triple lottery' - based on where they lived; how their local authority applied the eligibility criteria for care services; and the charging policy of their local authority. Councils maximum weekly charge ranged from 3.91 to 315.90, and 39 per cent of councils did not cap charges.
Source: Care Contradictions: Higher charges and fewer services, Counsel and Care (020 7241 8555)
Links: Report | C&C press release | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that older people feared financial and social isolation if the Royal Mail were forced into a widespread closure programme affecting the network of rural post offices.
Source: Older People s Message to the Government: Rural post offices are a lifeline and centre of the community, Age Concern England (020 8765 7200)
Links: Report | Age Concern press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
A study mapped older people's advocacy in the English regions. The results gave "very serious cause for concern" about the lack of availability of advocacy for older people in many areas.
Source: Gary Kitchen, Mapping Older People s Advocacy in the English Regions, Older People s Advocacy Alliance (OPAAL) UK (01782 844036)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined the experiences of older people and professionals working together to identify gaps in service provision for older people living in their own homes.
Source: Norma Raynes, Heather Clark and Jennifer Beecham (eds.), The Report of the Older People's Inquiry into 'That Bit of Help', York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Date: 2006-Jul
A report said that the potential for human rights principles to improve older people's services was not being fulfilled, because of ignorance among service providers and suspicion among older people.
Source: Frances Butler, Rights for Real: Older people, human rights and the CEHR, Age Concern England (020 8765 7200)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Jun
A Bill to create a Commissioner for Older People in Wales was given a second reading.
Source: Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL], Wales Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 15 June 2006, columns 921-960, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Wales Office press release | HOC brief | Hansard
Date: 2006-Jun
A report said that there was broad support in Scotland for free personal care: but there was a need for greater clarity on how to calculate the costs of it.
Source: David Bell, Alison Bowes, Alison Dawson and Elizabeth Roberts, Establishing the Evidence Base for an Evaluation of Free Personal Care in Scotland, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Links: Report | Summary | SE press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report by a committee of MSPs said that problems in funding free personal care for older people in Scotland needed to be resolved if the success of the policy were not to be undermined. The policy, introduced in 2003, had provided ?greater security and dignity? to many older people: but demand was out-stripping available resources in many of the country?s local authorities.
Source: Care Inquiry, 10th Report 2006, SP Paper 594, Scottish Parliament Health Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | COSLA press release | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report examined evidence on the future health of older people in Scotland; considered the implications for the provision of care services; and investigate the use of existing models of care and the use of other services and support as an alternative to long-term residential care.
Source: The Future Care of Older People in Scotland: Range And Capacity Review Group - Second Report, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
An article examined the relationship between quality of life and the social networks and support of older people from different ethnic groups. There was a high level of expectation of family support among Asian-Indian respondents, co-existing with a high level of expectation of state support and an acknowledgement that the ideal of family support might not always materialize. Among white British respondents, the high level of expectation of state support existed regardless of whether the respondent had satisfactory informal social networks.
Source: Chih Hoong Sin, 'Expectations of support among white British and Asian-Indian older people in Britain: the interdependence of formal and informal spheres', Health and Social Care in the Community, Volume 14 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-May
A report examined pain management for older people with learning difficulties who had dementia. There was a concerning level of unrecognized, and therefore untreated, pain.
Source: Diana Kerr, Colm Cunningham and Heather Wilkinson, Responding to the Pain Experiences of Older People with a Learning Difficulty and Dementia, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2006-May
A report presented the findings of qualitative research which explored people's views on the issue of paying for personal care in later life. People were strongly of the view that the state should provide for care in old age, and there was a marked reluctance for individual wealth to taken into account. This was especially so in relation to housing wealth. The strongest views about care being free were in the younger, rather than the older, age group.
Source: Who Should Pay For Care? Paying for care in later life, Age Concern England (020 8765 7200)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Apr
A report examined the issues raised by the gender equality duty in care for older people.
Source: Gender Equality in Public Services: Care for Older People, Equal Opportunities Commission Wales (029 2034 3552) and Welsh Consumer Council
Links: Report | WCC press release
Date: 2006-Apr
A report examined public attitudes to options for reforming the financing of long-term care. There was considerable interest in a ring-fenced tax to pay for long-term care: but there was enormous mistrust of any private sector financial packages or products , whether equity release or private insurance.
Source: Karen Croucher and Paul Rhodes, Testing Consumer Views on Paying for Long-term Care, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Apr
A report said that continuing care retirement communities could provide direct benefits to residents, such as maintaining physical and mental well-being, independence, and access to facilities and activities; and could relieve relatives of the stresses of family care. Compared to traditional residential care homes and sheltered housing, the centres were commonly large-scale, catered for a mix of residents, tailored care to individual needs, and often comprised a mix of tenures.
Source: Robin Tetlow, Continuing Care Retirement Communities: A guide to planning, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2006-Apr
A report examined five affordable reforms aimed at funding long-term care more fairly, adequately, and coherently. It said that long-term care funding would eventually need a major overhaul with more public money: but the reform options demonstrated how improvements could begin immediately.
Source: Paying for Long Term-care: Moving forward, Foundations 0186, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | JRF press release | Kings Fund press release | Age Concern press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Apr
The government published the second phase of its 10-year 'national service framework for older people'. It was aimed at encouraging the involvement of older people in service planning, improving the integration of services, and promoting healthy ageing. The government also announced that it had asked the health and social care watchdogs to put older people's dignity at the centre of their investigations.
Source: A New Ambition for Old Age: Next steps in implementing the national service framework for older people, National Director for Older People/Department of Health (08701 555455) | Press release 20 April 2006, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: Report | DH press release | CSCI press release | SCIE press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Apr
A report by a committee of MPs said that elderly people and those with disabilities needed more help with the switch to digital television.
Source: Analogue Switch-off: A signal change in television, Second Report (Session 2005-06), HC 650, House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
A discussion paper presented projections of demand for long-term care for older people in England to 2041 and associated future expenditure. It said that the proportion of national income required to fund long-term care services would rise significantly under base-case assumptions.
Source: Raphael Wittenberg et al., Future Demand for Long-term care, 2002 to 2041: Projections of demand for older people in England, Discussion Paper 2330, Personal Social Services Research Unit/University of Kent (01227 823963)
Links: Paper
Date: 2006-Mar
An article reported findings from a European Commission-funded study of future long-term care expenditure in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Under the base case, the proportion of gross domestic product spent on long-term care was projected to more than double between 2000 and 2050 in each country.
Source: Adelina Comas-Herrera et al., 'Future long-term care expenditure in Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom', Ageing and Society, Volume 26 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Mar
An article said that the delivery of services through integrated health and social care teams did not result in a greater proportion of older people remaining living independently in the community.
Source: Louise Brown and John Cullis, ' Team production and policy for the care of older people: problems with theory and evidence', Policy Studies, Volume 27 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Mar
A think-tank report said that spending on personal care for older people in England would have to treble to about 30 billion a year by 2026 to meet the needs of the ageing 'baby boomer' generation. The government said that it would conduct a review of social care, starting from first principles on how social care was funded. It said that the Wanless report would be "useful": but that it would also need to consider the needs of the increasing numbers of vulnerable younger adults with complex needs who also needed social care support.
Source: Derek Wanless et al., Securing Good Care for Older People: Taking a long-term view, King s Fund (020 7307 2591) | Press release 30 March 2006, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: Report | King's Fund press release | DH press release | CSCI press release | GSCC press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
The Welsh Assembly government published a 'national service framework' for older people.
Source: National Service Framework for Older People in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 3454)
Links: Framework | Summary | Framework (Welsh) | Summary (Welsh)
Date: 2006-Mar
A report examined the services and projects for older people that had been funded in disadvantaged communities in Scotland through the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund. The value of funding allocated to older people s services was comparatively small, representing just 7 per cent of the total 90 million budget - despite guidelines highlighting older people as potential beneficiaries of BNSF services.
Source: Liz Shiel, Ian Clark and Francesca Richards, Older People s Services in the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Feb
A report said that the government had already exceeded its target for increasing (by March 2006) the number of elderly people supported intensively to live at home (to 30 per cent of the total being supported by social services at home or in residential care). The target had been extended, to 34 per cent by March 2008.
Source: Summary of the Public Service Agreement (PSA) Target on Home Care 2004/05, NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre (0845 300 6016)
Links: Report | DH press release
Date: 2006-Jan
A report examined intermediate care for older people. The main concerns surrounding the implementation of intermediate care centred upon capacity issues, and whole-systems working. Weaknesses in service capacity (as illustrated by limited operating hours, staff shortages, and insufficient access to mainstream services) were generally attributed to inadequacies in the funding and infrastructure required to support intermediate care.
Source: Pelham Barton et al., A National Evaluation of the Costs and Outcome of Intermediate Care for Older People, Health Services Management Centre/University of Birmingham (0121 414 7050) and Leicester Nuffield Research Unit/University of Leicester
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan
The opposition Conservative Party said that it would end the 'immense injustice' of elderly people losing their family home and life savings in order to pay for care. It would introduce a new, voluntary scheme under which a one-off joining fee (estimated at around £8, 000, paid at age 65) would give a guarantee that all fees for permanent residential care would be waived for life.
Source: Press release 3 October 2009, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Conservative Party press release | ECCA press release | Carers UK press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Jan
The government published a cross-departmental action plan, designed to improve delivery of key services to disadvantaged people aged over 50. One-stop shops for older people would be piloted, based on the Sure Start family services model. The programme would be called 'Link-Age Plus'.
Source: A Sure Start to Later Life: Ending inequalities for older people, Social Exclusion Unit/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 5550)
Links: Report | ODPM press release | Age Concern press release
Date: 2006-Jan
An article gave the results of the first United Kingdom-wide study into euthanasia. They showed the proportion of deaths in which doctors reported having assisted patients suicide, carried out euthanasia, or taken other medical decisions relating to the ending of life. There are no incidences of physician-assisted suicide. Voluntary euthanasia accounted for 0.16 per cent of total deaths.
Source: Clive Seale, 'National survey of end-of-life decisions made by UK medical practitioners', Palliative Medicine, Volume 20 Number 1
Links: Abstract | Brunel press release
Date: 2006-Jan
A private member's Bill was introduced to safeguard vulnerable older people from abuse and neglect. It sought to amend the Human Rights Act to extend the definition of public authority to include any body regulated under the Care Standards Act; and to provide for clear nutritional standards to apply in all establishments providing care for older people.
Source: Care of Older and Incapacitated People (Human Rights) Bill, Paul Burstow MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2006-Jan
