A study examined what happened when older people were given the opportunity to shape the commissioning and delivery of health and personal care services. It raised wider questions about the impact of their involvement – particularly whether it could change the nature of local power relations in the long term.
Source: Gerald Wistow, Eileen Waddington, and Vanessa Davey, Involving Older People in Commissioning: More power to their elbow?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2011-Dec
A study explored the experiences of older people whose health problems created a need for support and care. It focused on the changes occurring in their everyday lives and whether they felt that the help they received promoted or undermined their dignity.
Source: Liz Lloyd, Michael Calnan, Ailsa Cameron, Jane Seymour, Randall Smith, and Kate White, Maintaining Dignity in Later Life: A longitudinal qualitative study of older people s experiences of support and care, NDA Research Programme c/o Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield
Date: 2011-Nov
The equality and human rights watchdog said that it had found 'disturbing evidence' that the poor quality of home care for many older people was breaching their human rights. Too many older people were struggling to voice their concerns about their care, or be listened to about what kind of support they wanted.
Source: Close to Home: An inquiry into older people and human rights in home care, Equality and Human Rights Commission | Liz Speed, Older People and Human Rights In Home Care: A report of two surveys, Equality and Human Rights Commission | Wendy Sykes and Carola Groom, Older People's Experiences of Home Care in England, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report | EHRC press release | Research report 80 | Research report 79 | ADASS press release | BGS press release | Carers UK press release | RCN press release | Red Cross press release | SCIE press release | UKHCA press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Nov
A paper examined what older people with high physical and mental support needs said that they wanted and valued in their lives. It proposed a 'circular' model that would allow those needs to be met.
Source: Jeanne Katz, Caroline Holland, Sheila Peace, and Emily Taylor (edited by Imogen Blood), A Better Life: What older people with high support needs value, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2011-Nov
A report said that services that older people believed were crucial to their well-being were suffering as a result of coalition government cuts in public spending – creating greater pressures on the health service.
Source: Martin Hoban, Vicki James, Kirsty Pattrick, Peter Beresford, and Jennie Fleming, Voices on Well-Being: A report of research with older people, WRVS
Links: Report | Summary | WRVS press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A report by a committee of MSPs said that a review of national care standards for older people was 'overdue'. The review should address changes such as the move towards a greater integration of health and social care, the rise in the number of older people with dementia, and the issue of widespread prescription of psycho-active medications to care home residents.
Source: Report on Inquiry into the Regulation of Care for Older People, 3rd Report 2011, SP Paper 40, Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee
Links: Report | Scottish Parliament press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A report called for urgent reform of the care system for older people in Scotland. Service providers needed to consult and engage with Scotland's people in order to design cost-effective personalized services. Costly overlaps in service needed to be 'engineered out'. There was a need to improve measures of well-being in older age, so that the quality and impact of social and health care provision could be monitored better.
Source: Alan Sinclair, A Life Worth Living, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Links: Report | Summary | SCVO press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A study examined alternative approaches to planning, funding, and providing long-term care for older people with high support needs – focusing on the ways in which they took active roles based on 'mutuality and reciprocity'.
Source: Helen Bowers, Marc Mordey, Dorothy Runnicles, Sylvia Barker, Neil Thomas, Anita Wilkins, Sian Lockwood, and Angela Catley, Not a One Way Street: Research into older people s experiences of support based on mutuality and reciprocity – Interim findings, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2011-Oct
A report said that extra care housing could play a major part in delivering better health outcomes and reducing the long-term care costs facing older people. Compared with those living in the community in receipt of domiciliary care, those in extra care housing were about half as likely to enter institutional accommodation.
Source: Dylan Kneale, Establishing the Extra in Extra Care: Perspectives from three extra care housing providers, International Longevity Centre – UK
Links: Report | ILC press release | Community Care report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Sep
An article examined the concept of 'unmet need' in the support of older people, using data from the General Household Survey, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and the British Household Panel Survey. Different kinds of need tended to be supported by particular sources of care, and there was a significant level of 'unmet need' for certain activities.
Source: Athina Vlachantoni, Richard Shaw, Rosalind Willis, Maria Evandrou, Jane Falkingham, and Rebekah Luff, 'Measuring unmet need for social care amongst older people', Population Trends 145, Autumn 2011, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article
Date: 2011-Sep
A report examined the experiences of older people in Northern Ireland in relation to the social care system. Although a number of participants reported positive experiences, most believed that the care system did not meet the needs of the people it was meant to support.
Source: Would You Have Sandwiches for Your Tea Every Night? : Older people s views of social care in Northern Ireland, Age NI
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jul
A new book examined different types and dimensions of child and elder care in Europe, highlighting new tensions between them in the context of recent welfare state reforms.
Source: Birgit Pfau-Effinger and Tine Rostgaard (eds.), Care Between Work and Welfare in European Societies, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Jul
A report said that out of 2 million older people in England with care-related needs, 800,000 received no formal support from public or private sector agencies. With spending cuts under way, the figure was likely to pass 1 million between 2012 and 2014.
Source: Care in Crisis: Causes and solutions, Age UK
Links: Report | Age UK press release | DH press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2011-Jun
A report examined the extent, causes, and consequences of elder maltreatment in Europe, and provided an overview of good practice in prevention. Every year at least 4 million older people in Europe were estimated to suffer physical abuse.
Source: Dinesh Sethi, Sara Wood, Francesco Mitis, Mark Bellis, Bridget Penhale, Isabel Iborra Marmolejo, Ariela Lowenstein, Gillian Manthorpe, and Freja Ulvestad Karki (eds.), European Report on Preventing Elder Maltreatment, World Health Organisation (Regional Office for Europe)
Links: Report | WHO press release
Date: 2011-Jun
An article mapped existing prevalence research on abuse and neglect of older people in Europe.
Source: Liesbeth De Donder, Minna-Liisa Luoma, Bridget Penhale, Gert Lang, Ana J. Santos, Ilona Tamutiene, Mira Koivusilta, Anna Schopf, Jose Ferreira Alves, and Jolanta Reingarde, 'European map of prevalence rates of elder abuse and its impact for future research', European Journal of Ageing, Volume 8 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jun
A briefing paper reported a study that examined result-oriented quality indicators for residential care homes for older people in Europe.
Source: Frederique Hoffmann and Kai Leichsenring, Quality Management by Result-Oriented Indicators: Towards benchmarking in residential care for older people, European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (Vienna)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jun
An article examined the relationship between poverty in older age, pension receipt, and the role of social policy formulation with particular reference to New Labour governance. It then considered the implications for social work practice.
Source: Liam Foster, 'Older people, pensions and poverty: an issue for social workers?', International Social Work, Volume 54 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-May
A report said that care and support for older people in England had reached a financial 'breaking point'. 800,000 people who needed care received no formal support from either the state or private sector agencies. That figure might well rise to 1 million people within 4 years as a result of estimated cuts to already threadbare social care budgets.
Source: Care in Crisis: Causes and solutions, Age UK
Links: Report | Age UK press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-May
A think-tank report examined how a 'National Care Fund' could be used to finance social care for elderly people. It developed a model built around social investment funds: these would pay an annual grant, which would be used by the Fund to purchase annuities from the insurance industry for all individuals entitled to make a claim in a given year.
Source: James Lloyd, Delivering a National Care Fund: How would a public-private partnership work?, Strategic Society Centre
Date: 2011-Apr
An article examined the extent to which co-ordination between health and social care agencies had been achieved, following the introduction of a policy initiative (the 'single assessment process') that aimed to integrate assessment of older people through the use of shared tools and procedures.
Source: Michele Abendstern, Jane Hughes, Paul Clarkson, Caroline Sutcliffe, and David Challis, 'The pursuit of integration in the assessment of older people with health and social care needs', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 41 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Apr
A report highlighted the cost to local councils of people who began by funding their own care, but who fell back on state funding when their own means ran out.
Source: Jonathan Carr-West and Laurie Thraves, Independent Ageing: Council support for care self-funders, Local Government Information Unit
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Mar
A review examined strategies for building 'good places to grow older' in the United Kingdom and in European member states. The UK approach involved:
• Emphasis on long-term strategic reforms of public services (including pensions, benefits, health, and care).
• Development of 'good places to grow older' locally – for example, through the concept of the Big Society and the Age-Friendly Cities Programme.
• Seeking older people's perspectives first, and creating institutions that guaranteed the involvement of older people in policy-making.
Changing attitudes and behaviours of individuals to promote equality of opportunity for older people.
Source: Clemens Tesch-Romer and Anna Hokema, A Good Place to Grow Older: Synthesis report, Peer Review in Social Protection and Social Inclusion and Assessment in Social Inclusion (European Commission)
Links: Report
Notes: Regular peer reviews have been established to promote the identification and exchange of good practices in the field of social inclusion policies throughout the European Union.
Date: 2011-Mar
A trade union report said that care services for older people in Europe were evolving in many countries, but care work was still an occupation that had a predominantly low-paid, female workforce. Personalization was also leading to the creation of new types of jobs that were often unregulated and unprotected: one of the major challenges for trade unions would be how to organize and negotiate terms and conditions for these new groups of home care workers or personal assistants.
Source: Jane Lethbridge, Care Services for Older People in Europe: Challenges for Labour, European Federation of Public Service Unions
Date: 2011-Mar
A paper examined the way in which 6 European countries (including England) had addressed the problem of managing dependency in old age.
Source: Florence Kamette, Dependency Care in the EU: A comparative analysis, Robert Schuman Foundation
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Mar
Researchers examined how people with mental health problems, and older people, used self-directed support and personal budgets. Clearer information was needed about the different ways in which personal budgets could be held. There was a need for knowledgeable staff and continuity of relationships with staff. The role of carers in the assessment process needed adjusting. There were difficulties for services in keeping up with the changing needs and preferences of users.
Source: Liz Newbronner et al., Keeping Personal Budgets Personal: Learning from the experiences of older people, people with mental health problems and their carers, Adults' Services Report 40, Social Care Institute for Excellence
Date: 2011-Feb
A report by a committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly said that much more needed to be done to shift the balance of provision for older people from institutional care to care in the home.
Source: Report on Arrangements for Ensuring the Quality of Care in Homes for Older People, Fourth Report (Session 2010-11), Northern Ireland Assembly Public Accounts Committee, TSO
Links: Report | NIA press release
Date: 2011-Feb
A report highlighted cost-effective ways to support older people's health, well-being, social engagement, and independence. The projects demonstrated the importance of: involving people who used support and services in shaping them; greater emphasis on the assistance that older people needed and chose, and on their experiences, rather than on conventional social care and/or services; developing place-based approaches that reflected the whole of people's lives – for example by including transport, leisure, and fire and rescue services to co-ordinate support.
Source: Angela Clark, How Can Local Authorities With Less Money Support Better Outcomes for Older People?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jan
A report said that local authorities could help to tackle cross-generational issues by making more use of shared sites and shared care services – for example, by opening children's centre buildings for use by other age groups.
Source: United or Divided? Towards a 'cradle to grave' contract between generations, United for All Ages
Links: Report | UFAL press release
Date: 2011-Jan
A series of articles examined options for the funding of long-term social care services.
Source: Emma Stone and Claudia Wood, 'A funding settlement that works for people, not services', Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Volume 11 Number 4 | Dot Gibson, 'Time for a tax-funded national care service', Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Volume 11 Number 4 | Richard Humphries and Julien Forder, 'Options for funding longterm care: the partnership model compared', Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Volume 11 Number 4 | James Lloyd, 'Navigating the long road to long-term care funding reform', Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Volume 11 Number 4
Links: Abstract (1) | Abstract (2) | Abstract (3) | Abstract (4)
Date: 2011-Jan
An article examined the benefits of green exercise and open spaces for people living with dementia.
Source: Neil Mapes, 'It's a walk in the park: exploring the benefits of green exercise and open spaces for people living with dementia', Working with Older People, Volume 14 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan
An article said that a key factor in the social exclusion of older people was poor access to information, often stemming from communication strategies that did not take account of their circumstances or needs. Information strategies for older people needed to concentrate on improving access and quality, and required partnership working. Older people's groups needed to be fully involved as partners, and effective strategies needed to work through community and neighbourhood networks.
Source: Charlie Hislop, 'Improving access to information: a key requirement for reducing social exclusion', Working with Older People, Volume 14 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan
An article examined the role of Age Concern staff in providing timely information and advice relating to the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Staff had 'varied' knowledge of the MCA. and most lacked confidence in providing detailed advice. Given the wide-reaching scope of the MCA, differentiating between information, advice, and advocacy might be necessary.
Source: Kritika Samsi, Jill Manthorpe, and Phillip Rapaport, '"As people get to know it more": experiences and expectations of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 amongst local information, advice and advocacy services', Social Policy and Society, Volume 10 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan
An article examined options for the functional and structural integration of health and social care for older people.
Source: Colin Currie, 'Health and social care of older people: could policy generalise good practice?', Journal of Integrated Care, Volume 18 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan
