personal budgets

Whose risk is it anyway? Risk and regulation in an era of personalisation

Paper that argues that ‘risk’ is often perceived negatively by people using services (used as an excuse used for stopping them doing something) – but risk needs to be shared between the person taking the risk and the system that is trying to support them; states that although some people fear that personalisation may increase risk, it could help people to be safer by putting them more in control of their lives, helping them plan ahead, and focusing our safeguarding expertise on those who really need it; and considers the fact that in an era of personalisation, approaches to risk and regulat

'Would you have sandwiches for your tea every night?': older people's views of social care in Northern Ireland

Research produced as a result of a project which aimed to consult directly with older people to ascertain their views on all aspects of social care and report on the main findings.

SRC worked in partnership with Age NI staff and peer facilitators to recruit for and run three focus groups across NI. The focus groups were held in Belfast, Cookstown and Irvinestown. In total, twenty four older people attended the focus groups – two thirds male and one third female.

Personal budgets briefing: learning from the experiences of older people and their carers (At a glance 40)

A summary of older people’s and carers’ experiences of using self-directed support and personal budgets. It is based on a six month study, which also included people with mental health problems.

The research was commissioned from a joint team from Acton Shapiro, the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) and the Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU).