Community Care of the Elderly in Northern Ireland and Great Britain

Community Care of the Elderly

A

This paper shall identify and explain services available which support community care of the older person. Examples of informal care, voluntary, statutory and the independent sector shall be discussed in part A. Barriers to the delivery of good community care services shall be discussed in part B and also recommendations for improvements.

Sharkey (2000) suggests that community is a term used to describe a group of people in the same situation, such as older residents in a residential home. Community care is the care given outside of institutions which help the client user to live independently in their own homes, in the community. People who receive community care may also have a physical illness or disability, a mental illness or disability or have learning difficulties, perhaps they are homeless there are numerous groups that could be included. Community care also provides a service aimed at providing relief to the carer and/or service user by giving them a break from the caring task, this is known as respite care.

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Respite care may take place in the persons own home with an approved carer, in the home of an approved carer, in a day center or residential home and may be for very short periods such as 1-2 hours or longer periods such as 1/2/3 weeks.

Between 1971 and 1991 an emphasis was placed on narrowing down hospital care (reducing beds in (Department of Health and Social Services) DHSS hospitals) and providing places in the community. The government "Care in the Community" project demonstrated the need for individual care plans service flexibility for the four sectors. The NHS (National Health Service) and Community Care Act (1990) made local authorities and Social Services responsible for the organization and funding of community care. Their...