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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Home and away
— reflections on long-term care in the UK and Australia | | Author(s) | Melanie Henwood |
| Corporate Author | Social Policy Research Centre - SPRC, University of New South Wales |
| Journal title | SPRC Discussion Paper, no 101, 1999 |
| Pages | 32 pp |
| Keywords | Organisation of care ; Services ; Health services ; Long term ; Finance [care] ; Social policy ; United Kingdom ; Australia. |
| Annotation | The debate on challenges posed by an ageing population has been similar in the UK and Australia. In both countries, a history of incrementalism and poorly presented policy reform has contributed to widespread public mistrust, and a sense of injustice at the extension of means-testing or user pays principles. This paper examines the analysis and conclusions of the Royal Commission on Long-Term Care in the UK. A fundamental principle advanced by the Royal Commission is that the risk of needing long-term care should be shared by all citizens, rather than borne by those who have the misfortune to need such care. A separation of the personal care costs of long-term care from the living and housing costs has been proposed as the most equitable way of sharing costs between individuals and the state. Major reforms in community care in the early 1990s in the UK (and similar developments in Australia) were concerned largely with improving management and accountability of local services, and with promoting community rather than residential-based models of care. While the model proposed by the Royal Commission is not without flaws, it offers a prospect of improved individual security and enhanced social cohesion in old age. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-990924202 B |
| Classmark | P: I: L: 4Q: QC: TM2: 8: 7YA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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