| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
| Choice in the context of informal care-giving | | Author(s) | Hilary Arksey, Caroline Glendinning |
| Journal title | Health and Social Care in the Community, vol 15, no 2, March 2007 |
| Pages | pp 165-175 |
| Source | http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/hsc |
| Keywords | Informal care ; Consumer choice ; Rights [elderly] ; Services ; Usage [services] ; Research Reviews. |
| Annotation | Extending choice and control for social care services users is a central feature of current English policies. However, these have comparatively little to say about choice in relation to the informal carers of relatives, friends, or older people who are disabled or sick. To explore the realities of choice as experienced by carers, this paper reviews research published in English since 1985 about three situations in which carers are likely to face choices: receiving social services; the entry of an older person into long-term care; and combining paid work and care. 13 electronic databases covering both the health and social care fields were searched, including: ASSIA; IBSS; Social Care Online; ISI Web of Knowledge; Medline; HMIC; Sociological Abstracts; INGENTA; ZETOC; and the National Research Register. The search strategy combined terms that: identified individuals with care-giving responsibilities; identified people receiving help and support; and described the process of interest (e.g. choice, decision-making; and self-determination). The search identified comparatively few relevant studies, and so was supplemented by the findings from another recent review of empirical research on carers' choices about combining work and care. The research evidence suggests that carers' choices are shaped by two sets of factors: one relates to the nature of the caregiving relationship; and the second consists of wider organisational factors. A number of reasons may explain the invisibility of choice for carers in current policy proposals for increasing choice. In particular, it is suggested that underpinning conceptual models of the relationship between carers and formal service providers shape the extent to which carers can be offered choice and control on similar terms to service users. In particular, the exercise of choice by carers is likely to be highly problematic if it involves relinquishing some unpaid caregiving activities. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-070313001 A |
| Classmark | P6: WYC: IKR: I: QLD: 3A:6KC |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|