A Better Life was a major five year programme of work developed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which explored how to achieve a good quality of life for older people with high support needs.
This briefing has been produced by IRISS to ensure that the messages and challenges of A Better Life are understood in the context of the current policy drivers in Scotland and are translated into practice across the country.
Ten tips to help older people with high support needs make informed choices and plan their support.
Older people who need support are often offered a very narrow range of choices, and are rarely given good information about the many possibilities. This leaflet is about a range of options that care professionals may know little about. Document published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in December 2013. Summary and full report available.
What can help older people with high support needs to improve their quality of life? This research rounds-up the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's JRF’s A Better Life programme of work and presents a vision of what life can, and should, be like for all of us as we get older
This Solutions provides practical guidance for commissioners of older people’s services on the range of models and approaches available for supporting older people with high support needs. The study identifies describes the options that are available, what makes them successful and beneficial, and suggests five priorities for commissioners. Report published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in July 2013.
This study identifies the benefits and potential of options based on mutuality (people supporting each other) and / or reciprocity (people contributing to individual and group well-being). The study was published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) in January 2013. Full report and summary report available.
This is a summary of research literature on the participation and co-production of older people with high support needs. Benefits and barriers are identified and practice examples are listed. The report will be of particular interest to commissioners of social and health care services. It will also be useful for people working in housing provision and service users and others developing the co-production/participation agenda in care provision and service development. Resource published by Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in October 2012. Review date in October 2015.
Report that explores what older people with high support needs want from and value in their lives, and suggests a model for exploring factors that are facilitatory or compromising in these terms.
This study is part of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's JRF's A Better Life programme. It aims to provide a framework for understanding what older people with high physical or mental support needs want and value in their lives
In 2009, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation launched A Better Life, a new research programme focussing on how we can improve the quality of life of older people with high support needs. The first publications as part of this programme reveal the key messages which are central to enabling people to live A Better Life.
The full report, 'Equality and diversity and older people with high support needs', considers what we know about the needs and situations of older people with high support needs from different equality groups, and the barriers they commonly face in service provision.