social care

Research, Policy and Planning: the journal of the Social Services Research Group

Since its first issue in 1986 the Social Services Research Group’s journal Research Policy and Planning has been one of the key research journals in the personal social services.

The journal is devoted to publishing work by researchers and practitioners in local and central government, other statutory authorities and voluntary agencies.

Personalisation: lessons from social care

Paper that shows how the personalisation agenda encourages innovation, offering the potential to create new markets around localised and individual needs, to focus fiscal resources directly and discretely, and to enable small groups of individuals to ‘positively disrupt’ a complex and opaque system.

It begins with a potted history of personalisation, and ends with five recommendations for the implementation of personalisation, whatever the sector, in a way that increases the availability and use of new, community­based approaches to support and inclusion.

Continuity of care for older hospital patients: a call for action

Paper that focuses on the experiences of older people with multiple health problems, and particularly on their experiences inside hospital. Continuity is especially important for these older patients because: they are more likely to spend time in hospital and to be in hospital for longer; if they are frail, a stay in hospital can be life-changing; and, regrettably, in some hospitals and some wards older patients are exposed to unacceptable standards of care.

Crossing the threshold: the implications of the Dilnot Commission and Law Commission reports for eligibility and assessment in care and support

Scoping report that explores the implications of implementing key Dilnot and Law Commission proposals in respect of assessment and eligibility for publicly funded adult social care.

It explores the Dilnot Commission‟s recommendations, and those of the Law Commission, for a new model of assessment and a national eligibility threshold for publicly funded adult social care in England. It also discusses the implications for these processes of establishing limited liability for individuals by the proposed capped lifetime contribution of £35,000 for people paying for care.

Commissioning social care

The overall aim of the audit was to review how effectively the public sector commissions social care services.

It examines how well councils and their partners plan, and how councils either procure or deliver, effective social care services. It also assesses the extent to which councils and their partners involve users and carers in developing services to meet their needs, and how they work with providers in the voluntary and private sectors to provide high-quality, sustainable services.

Social care (Fourteenth report of session 2010-12)

The purpose of the inquiry has been to consider the issues facing the future of social care, and to make recommendations for consideration by the Government in advance of publication of its White Paper on social care and update on funding.

Although the report focuses particularly on those people aged 65 and older, many of the recommendations are equally relevant to services for younger people who have a disability, and other people who have long-term conditions.