Synopses & Reviews
Recent community care changes have raised fundamental issues about the changing role of the public, voluntary and informal sectors in the provision of social care to older people. They have also raised issues about the health and social care interface, the extent to which services should be rationed and the respective roles of residential care and care at home.From Poor Law to community care sets these debates in the context of the historical growth of welfare services from the outbreak of the Second World War through to the establishment of social services departments in 1971. Based on extensive research on primary sources, such as the Public Records Office and interviews with key actors, the book considers the changing perceptions of the needs of elderly people, the extent to which they have been a priority for resources and the possibilities for a policy which combines respect for elderly people with an avoidance of the exploitation of relatives.This is an updated second edition of The development of welfare services for elderly people, first published by Croom Helm, 1985. It is essential reading for practitioners and policy makers interested in gerontology, policy studies, community care and postgraduate students studying and training in a range of health and social care related professions.
Review
A very strong and original contribution to the field of ageing studies ... extremely highly regarded. Chris Phillipson
Review
Historical accounts of services provide a salutary reminder of changing perceptions of older people and attitudes towards them. This second edition is a very useful addition to the social policy literature. Anthea Tinker
Review
A historical perspective on the development of community care ... a wide ranging book ... designed primarily for postgraduate students in social gerontology. It is a useful source of references with regard to health and social care. Oxford Academic Journals
Review
It remains a fascinating exploration, illustrated by apposite extracts from original sources, of a relatively uncharted period of welfare evolution; there is a particular pleasure in perusing these 'historical' accounts and realising with a jolt their continued, often heightened, salience to current debates. SPA News
Review
The detailed analyses conducted by Means and Smith convey an authenticity which has the reader reflecting in a refreshed way on the debates of the present day. Australisian Journal on Ageing
Synopsis
Based on extensive research on primary sources and interviews with key actors, this book explores the changing perceptions of the needs of elderly people. It considers the extent to which they have been a priority for resources and looks at the possibilities of policy that combines respect for elderly people with an avoidance of the exploitation of relatives.
About the Author
Robin Means, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of the West of England and Randall Smith, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Evacuation and elderly people in the Second World War
3. Civilian morale and elderly people: the emergence of ‘reforms in residential and domiciliary welfare services
4. The 1948 National Assistance Act and the provision of welfare services for elderly people
5. Issues in residential care
6. Avoiding institutional care: the changing role of the state, the family and the voluntary organisations
7. The restructuring of welfare services for elderly people
8. Community care and older people: reflections on the past, present and future
Bibliography
Appendix
Index