Care Services for Later Life: Transformations and Critiques

About the Book

What are the implications of current economic, social and political trends in Britain for older people? Social and demographic changes have led to traditional areas of welfare being transformed. The contributors to this book take a critical look at the current situation and assess the implications for future practice. They debate the assumptions and values underlying established welfare programmes and consider the case for change as growing demands put health and social services under increasing pressure. The second part of the book discusses specific areas in detail, ranging from the organisation of effective domiciliary social care to the impact of new technologies on older people's lives. This book provides a comprehensive and practical overview of the provision of services for older people and will be a valuable and thought-provoking resource for anyone involved in caring for and supporting them.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements. Preface, Mike Nolan, Lorna Warren and Tony Warnes 1. Health, Welfare and Old Age: Transformations and Critiques, Tony Warnes, Lorna Warren and Mike Nolan. 2. Beyond the Body: An Emerging Medical Paradigm, Charles Longino. 3. Empathetic Health and Care for Older People, Mike Nolan. 4. Rationing Care, Alan Maynard. 5. Designing and Implementing a National Health Service Framework, Ian Philp, Anne Ashe and Kate Lothian. 6. Defining Difference: Health and Social Care for Older People, Gillian Dalley. 7. The Medical-Social Boundary and the Location of Personal Care, Julia Twigg. 8. Older People, Citizenship and Collective Action, Marian Barnes and Sandra Shaw. 9.The Entry to a Nursing Home: Residents' and Relatives' Experiences, Sue Davies, Jonas Sandberg and Ulla Lundh. 10. Discharge from Hospital to Care-home: Professional Boundaries and Interfaces, Jan Reed and David Stanley. 11. The Quality of Home Care Services in Sweden: Consumer Expectations and Changing Satisfaction, Gillis Samuelson. 12. Death and Dying: Changing the Culture of Care, Amanda Clarke and Liz Hanson. 13. Design for Later Life: Beyond a Problem Orientation, Roger Coleman. 14. Older People, Telematics and Care, Josie Tetley, Liz Hanson and Amanda Clarke.
15. Double Attachment to Double Detachment: Chinese Older People in Britain, Ruby C.M. Chau and Sam W.K. Yu. 16. Bangladeshi Families in Bethnal Green, London: Older People, Ethnicity and Social Exclusion, Chris Phillipson, Emadad Alhaq, Saheed Ullah and Jim Ogg. 17. Averil Osborn and Participatory Research: Involving Older People in Change, Lorna Warren and Tony Maltby. 18. Care Services for Older People: The Forward Agenda, Mike Nolan, Tony Warnes and Lorna Warren. References. Index.

About the Author :
The editors are all at the University of Sheffield. Tony Warnesis a professor of Social Gerontology and during 1995-2000 was Chair of the British Society of Gerontology. Lorna Warrenis a lecturer in the Department of Sociological Studies and has been carrying out research on and with older people for seventeen years. Mike Nolan is a professor of Gerontological Nursing and is involved in several international comparative studies of formal and informal care-giving.

Review :
The book is accessible, and is thought provoking concerning the future of care provision for older people and the nature of the linkage between health and social care... It is of relevance to multi disciplinary and international audiences and contains much that will be of interest and use to students and educators as well as practitioners. A series of thought provoking essays by authors from diverse disciplines introduce the reader to theoretical frameworks and appraisal of current evidence. This is liberally doused with sensitive reflection of the experience, recent research by the authors and the comments of older people bringing the issues to life. This book could easily be compulsory reading for anyone involved in the care of older people… This book is for anyone seeking to understand more and to be open to thinking differently about older people and the services they receive. This book is a valuable text for academics, researchers, those belonging to the "caring professions", and those involved in aged care policy development. The outstanding contribution of the editors has been to provide a wide-ranging selection of readings that are bound to stimulate further debate. `This is not a standard text on services for the elderly but rather looks at both ageing and issues affecting older people and the application of this to improving quality of life of older people. A series of thought provoking essays by authors from diverse disciplines introduce the reader to theoretical frameworks and appraisal of current evidence. This is liberally doused with sensitive refection of their experience, recent research by the authors and the comments of older people bringing the issues to life. It is hard to conceive of anyone not getting something from each essay... In reality this book is for anyone seeking to understand more and to be open to thinking differently about older people and the services they receive.' This books serves as a useful digest of the theories and practicalities of care service for later life and, as noted, gives voice to the views of older people and their carers but whether this will encourage readers to add it to their collection remains to be seen. Quis custodiet custodies? is perhaps an oft-quoted phrase, but one which is illuminated by the selection of papers chosen for this volume. This book addresses the changing needs of care services at many levels... The chapters include a multi-disciplinary perspective, but also recognize other contemporary trends of fragmentation and complexity, of the development of specific services and of wider structural influences. The essays in this book are thought-provoking, and would engender much discussion in a graduate seminar... They are well documented, and written in a scholarly, yet reader-friendly way. The international flavor provides the reader with a global perspective on issues in social gerontology, and with rich ideas to consider.