| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
"A life not a service"?
— transforming the meaning of care | | Author(s) | Paul Cann |
| Journal title | Journal of Care Services Management, vol 2, no 2, January-March 2008 |
| Publisher | London, January-March 2008 |
| Pages | pp 127-133 |
| Source | http://www.henrystewart.com |
| Keywords | Community care ; Usage [services] ; Social policy. |
| Annotation | The planned Green Paper on adult social care could conceivably make real progress in achieving an accepted settlement for the organisation and funding of one of the biggest challenges of an ageing population: how to pay for long-term care. The demography may be daunting but it should not induce despair, if the opportunity is seized. The starting point should be the needs of individuals for their care needs and the translation of the jargon word 'personalisation' into concrete reality. There is a lot of ground to be covered, as successive reports of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and agencies like Help the Aged reveal. Standards are still too low in essentials of care such as the management of medication, the basics of dignity and the time allocated for home visiting; and policies need to be more strategic in commissioning and the role of carers. At the heart of the difficulty remains a pervasive ageism across society which appears to value older people - the largest group of users of social care - at a low level. This underlying problem must be fixed while delivery issues are addressed. A good place to start in social care would be practical help to older people and their carers in navigating what seems to be a bewildering maze of difficult rules and uncertain provision. There is no need for despair though. Solutions are out there already. Help the Aged's flagship project 'My Home Life' is an evidence-based analysis, celebration and public dissemination of the key ingredients of good residential care, which it hopes will offer down-to-earth practical support to the many conscientious care workers out there striving to do a good job. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-080319203 A |
| Classmark | PA: QLD: TM2 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|