bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Policy and action
Authors: Mitchell Rebecca
Published: August 2011

Rebecca Mitchell outlines projects developments and new reports linked with the National Social Inclusion Programme.
It's all in the mind
Authors: Iqbal Khawar
Published: August 2011

Nicola Rodney describes her involvement, as a service user participant, in the Europe‐wide It's All in the Mind project, which is looking into the training and support needs of teaching staff working with students in mainstream education who have mental health difficulties. Visiting partner educational institutions in Turkey and Ireland and talking with people from other cultures with shared experiences has taught her so much about mental health ‐ including her own.
Bringing it all back home
Authors: Johnson Robin
Published: August 2011

Robin Johnson calls for better co‐operation and co‐ordination between mental health and housing support services, and greater recognition of the important role of social housing in community mental health care.
Defining expertise by experience
Authors: Fox Joanna
Published: August 2011

Drawing partly on her own experience, Joanna Fox seeks to unpack the expertise that service users bring to the design and delivery of mental health services. Service user involvement cannot be imposed by policy diktat from above, she argues. Rather, it must be nurtured at the grass roots, by allowing service users to take control over their own lives, and their care and treatment.
Boxing clever
Authors: Pacitti Richard
Published: August 2011

Boxercise has many benefits, not just for physical and mental health but also for confidence, self‐esteem and motivation, says Richard Pacitti. Here he reports on the achievements of the Mind in Croydon Boxercise programme.
What does social inclusion mean?
Authors: Bertram Mark
Published: August 2011

Mark Bertram reports findings from his survey of service users, which asked what the term ‘social inclusion’ meant to them.
A day in the mind
Authors: Green Graeme
Published: August 2011

Graeme Green describes how a group of service users and staff wrote and produced three films, which they have since made into a training and awareness‐raising package.
The Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) Football League
Authors: Hynes Janette
Published: August 2011

A London football league has been set up for people who are experiencing or recovering from mental illness. The Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) Football League was started by an occupational therapist who had noticed that participating in football games was helping her patients. Being a part of the League has helped people in a range of ways, including increasing people's confidence and self‐esteem by interacting with other people in the community. Players also experience physical benefits, such as increasing overall general fitness, losing weight and stopping smoking.
Service users as managers: two sides of the same coin or a different currency?
Authors: Hayes Richard
Published: August 2011

As part of their work on social inclusion, the Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) asked Richard Hayes to facilitate a learning set for managers who work in mental health organisations and who are current or recent recipients of the services provided by these agencies. This article brings together some of the strands of their learning as a group and provides an insight into what it is like to operate in both worlds.
Promoting social inclusion for users of forensic services
Authors: Hutchinson Jan
Published: August 2011

Everyone has the right to be in employment, regardless of disability or mental health condition. South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT) is working to empower service users to get work, reduce stigma, prejudice and discrimination in the workplace and ensure that the NHS becomes better at employing people with a mental health condition. It offers a training course to give users of their forensic services experience of learning and applying construction skills in a supportive environment, as well as other ways for people to develop skills that support recovery and might one day lead to employment.
SCOPE for social inclusion?
Authors: Huxley Peter , Evans Sherrill , Munroe Maria , Philpin Sally
Published: August 2011

This paper sets out to look at social inclusion among users within services, asking the questions is there a general measure of agreement about what social inclusion means to people, and is there an accepted way of measuring these views? The initiative was funded by the NIHR Research Methods programme now part of the Health Technology Assessment group at Southampton. Nine focus groups explored what people understand by ‘social inclusion’ and concept mapping was used to try and define the term. The research methods are reported here, along with plans for the future.
What's in a name? The IPS approach to supported employment
Authors: Bacon Jenni , Lockett Helen , Rinaldi Miles
Published: August 2011

What does it mean to say there's an evidence base for supported employment? One approach, known as Individual placement and support or IPS for short, has been extensively evaluated and proven to help high numbers of people with severe mental health problems into work. But there is still little evidence of this approach being put into practice here in the UK. This article recalls a visit this year to the UK by Professor Bob Drake and colleagues from Dartmouth, New Hampshire, USA where the approach was developed, and explains the principles of supported employment and what it can mean for service users, staff, families and employers.
Service users: Individualised involvement or collective action?
Authors: Beresford Peter
Published: August 2011

This is an important time to be taking stock of mental health service user/survivor campaigning and involvement. Big changes are taking place in social care. These will also impact on developments taking place in mental health services, with the plan to trial personal budgets in the National Health Services announced in Lord Darzi's report in July 2008. This article details the past, present and future of the survivor movement from Peter Beresford's personal point of view.
Don't leave people behind
Authors: Bates Peter
Published: August 2011

The modernisation of day services presents many challenges. One key challenge is not to abandon the people that these have traditionally supported. Peter Bates from the National Development Team makes a plea for a modernisation process that clearly recognises the needs of this important group.
Evening the odds: Employment support, mental health and BME communities
Authors: Seebohm Patience
Published: August 2011

The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health has recently published a briefing paper on employment support for people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities who have mental health problems. The author of the paper, Patience Seebohm, summarises some key issues from the paper here.
Spirituality, the heart of caring
Authors: Aaron Martin
Published: August 2011

‘We are all born into a particular tribal culture. Beginning life as part of a tribe, we become connected to our tribal consciousness and collective willpower by absorbing its strengths and weaknesses, beliefs, superstitions and fears. Through our interactions with family and other groups, we learn the power of sharing with other people. We learn how painful it can be to be excluded from a group and its energy. We also learn the power of sharing a moral and ethical code handed down from generation to generation.’ (Myss, 1997)We are all aware that, since time immemorial, there has been world‐wide stigma and discrimination against those unfortunate enough to suffer from mental ill health. Governments, as well as their electorates, have stigmatised and discriminated against those who suffer most.Many of those who have been entrusted with the care and support of mentally ill people have all too often taken a discriminatory line in their approach, which has not aided patients' recovery. Clergy of all faiths and beliefs have very often been at the forefront, receiving calls for help from families in despair, unable to cope with a son, daughter, husband or wife suffering from a mental illness. Yet they are often ill‐equipped and untrained in how to respond appropriately.
Enterprise, employment and empowerment: The social firm sector's mission
Authors: Reynolds Sally
Published: August 2011

Sally Reynolds, Chief Executive of Social Firms UK, outlines the latest developments in the social firm sector's mission to provide real jobs for people with severe disadvantages.
A journey of psyche and spirit
Authors: MacGregor Jayne
Published: August 2011

Jayne MacGregor shares with us her life‐long journey and battle with obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. She describes how religious belief, meditation, psychotherapy and medication have all played key roles in keeping her afloat and how they are essential tools in her survival kit.
Recovery in Action
Authors: Lingwood Louise , Bennett Darren , Bevan Julie
Published: August 2011

Louise Lingwood, Darren Bennett and Julie Bevan describe the Recovery in Action Project, an exciting two‐year programme to embed recovery in the day‐to‐day practice of four voluntary sector agencies.
The Art and Well‐being Project, South Tyneside
Authors: Ngituka Espe , Hagan Mary , Greenwood Carl
Published: August 2011

This article describes the highly innovative Art and Well‐being Project, which offers arts activities to asylum seekers and refugees in South Tyneside. This was the first outcome of a continuing partnership between the NHS, the local English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) provision, and Tyne and Wear Museums (TWM).
Nottingham Trent University: improving student access
Authors: Scarffe Phil
Published: August 2011

The government has frequently stated its aim to include 50% of all young people in higher education, and yet there is still no strategic national plan that adequately considers the specific needs of students with mental health difficulties. Phil Scarffe, Mental Health Co‐ordinator at Nottingham Trent University describes how his Mental Health Support Team improves access for students with mental health difficulties, and explores how the Disability Discrimination Act applies to such students within a higher education context.
Policy and action
Authors: Robinson Zoe
Published: August 2011

Zoe Robinson reports on recent and forthcoming developments within the National Social Inclusion Programme.
Recovery heroes ‐ a profile of Dolly Sen
Authors: Sen Dolly , Morgan Sarah , Carson Jerome
Published: August 2011

The development of the recovery approach must mean a fundamental change in how mental health services see service users, for as the Social Perspectives Network paper rhetorically asks, ‘Whose Recovery is it?’, it is, of course, the service users' (Social Perspectives Network, 2007). The recent influential Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health report, suggests that professionals need to move from a position of ‘being on top, to being on tap’ (Shepherd et al, 2008). Service users need to take a more central role in the whole recovery debate. One of the ways that this aim can be realised is by looking at ‘recovery heroes’. These are individuals whose journey of recovery can inspire both other service users and professionals alike.
This is not a pipe
Authors: Johnson Robin
Published: August 2011

Robin Johnson continues his excellent series on housing issues, this time exploring the important role that support workers can have in reaching out to and engaging with individuals who would ordinarily be reluctant to put themseves in the hands of conventional care or therapy services.
The Partnership Programme
Authors: Stevens Liz
Published: August 2011

Liz Stevens brings us an update on the Partnership Programme, a national collaboration between the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education the Learning and Skills Council and the National Institute for Mental Health in England that focuses on improving access to learning for people with mental health difficulties.
Recovery heroes ‐ a profile of Peter Chadwick
Authors: Chadwick Peter , Morgan Sarah , Carson Jerome
Published: August 2011

In the first paper in this short series (Sen et al, 2009), we talked about the importance of having ‘recovery heroes’. There is a grave danger to the whole recovery movement if it is colonised by mental health professionals and not owned by service users themselves (O'Hagan, 2008). This danger can be seen in attempts to conduct randomised controlled trials of ‘recovery interventions’, designed by professionals, who want to bring recovery practice into evidence‐based medicine. If it means anything, recovery is fundamentally an individual process. The recent Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health report (Shepherd et al, 2008), quotes Bill Anthony:‘Recovery … is a deeply personal, unique process of changing one's attitudes … involves the development of new meaning and purpose in one's life …’ (Anthony, 1993)Patricia Deegan also emphasises the person‐centred focus of recovery, ‘… recovery is an attitude, a stance, a way of approaching the day's challenges …’ (Deegan, 1996, p96). The most important evidence, to our minds, is that of individuals who are on the journey of recovery. Recovery heroes are courageous individuals who have made considerable progress along the path that few staff ever have to travel. We would like to introduce you to another one: Peter Chadwick.
Putting the ‘lunatics’ in charge of the ‘asylum’? Handing over the keys of power to peer support volunteers
Authors: Duffield Alex
Published: August 2011

Alex Duffield describes a fascinating project at Bromley Mind to train and support people with lived experience of mental health difficulties ‐ peer support volunteers ‐ to run ‘drop‐in’ sessions at their centres.
Communities of Influence ‐ mobilising NHS foundation trust governors and members to promote social inclusion through community engagement
Authors: Davis Fabian , Hankinson Naomi , Scott Stafford , Wilson Rosemary , Morris David
Published: August 2011

This article describes the National Social Inclusion Programme's Communities of Influence workstream, the premises on which it was founded, the innovative social inclusion practice it proposed, what was learned and how the work will be taken forwards in the future.
Identifying knowledge boundaries: the case of networked projects
Authors: Swart Juani , Harvey Philippa
Published: August 2011

Purpose

In an interconnected world, projects span boundaries bringing together multiple organizations that enable cross‐boundary teams to contribute their collective knowledge assets. Herein lies the theoretical and managerial challenge; to date no‐one has identified the “knowledge boundaries” of projects. This means knowledge resources may be duplicated or ineffectively managed, impacting on project and organizational success. This paper seeks to demonstrate how “knowledge boundaries” can be identified and to illustrate how knowledge can be more effectively and efficiently used by cross‐boundary projects.

Design/methodology/approach

The research question: “How can the knowledge boundaries of networked projects be identified?” was addressed through a set of case studies spanning the Ministry of Defence (MOD)/Defence‐Industry boundary. Individual and shared knowledge assets, and the interrelationships between them, were identified via parallel coding of interview data and the analysis of the survey results. The knowledge boundary of the networked project was therefore determined and its interconnections and managerial implications unraveled.

Findings

Knowledge boundaries, as opposed to project or organizational boundaries, define the self‐sustaining knowledge core required by a project to access and use all the complementary and interconnecting knowledge it needs. Project knowledge is a linked, interdependent typology that spans boundaries; it must either be managed across boundaries, or all the organizations involved must invest over the odds to maintain it. Project team members need differently shaped knowledge but with enough overlap to communicate effectively thus linking knowledge together.

Originality/value

The paper introduces the “knowledge boundary” concept to define the self‐sustaining knowledge core a project requires to access, and use, all the knowledge it needs. Projects that understand their knowledge boundaries can use knowledge far more efficiently and effectively than those that do not.
How can we increase Spanish technology firms' performance?
Authors: Martín‐Rojas Rodrigo , García‐Morales Víctor J. , Mihi‐Ramírez Antonio
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of different technological aspects of organizations for Spanish firms' performance through organizational learning and corporate entrepreneurship (where organizational innovation is essential).

Design/methodology/approach

The relationships studied are confirmed empirically using a structural equation model to demonstrate the hypotheses. The sample was selected from the database Dun & Bradstreet España for 2003, obtaining 201 Spanish firms. CEOs were the main informants.

Findings

The results show that the support adopted by top managers will directly influence the organizational learning process, technological distinctive competencies and corporate entrepreneurship. Technological distinctive competencies are also supported by organizational slack resources, technological skills and a technological infrastructure. Finally, corporate entrepreneurship influences organizational performance.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is exploratory in character, and its goal is to show whether interrelations exist between the variables. The main limitations are: the sectors chosen refer only to Spain; the analysis performed is cross‐sectional; and a single method and self‐reports are used.

Practical implications

The paper shows that to obtain perfect adaptation of the firm to its environment, it is crucial that managers develop corporate entrepreneurship, especially innovation, to improve high‐technology sector firms' performance.

Originality/value

The paper seeks to stimulate new lines of research regarding technological distinctive competencies, organizational learning and corporate entrepreneurship and to relate them to other constructs, observing their repercussions for the firm.
Linking properties of knowledge with innovation performance: the moderate role of absorptive capacity
Authors: Wang Changfeng , Han Yan
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to unravel the complex linkages between properties of knowledge, firm's absorptive capacities, and innovation performance in China small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors utilize moderated multiple regression (MMR) to explore the complex relationships by using the empirical data of Chinese information technology and electro‐communication firms during 2005‐2008.

Findings

The results show that only a few knowledge properties have negative effects on innovation performance. Most knowledge properties have a positive effect on innovation. The results also claim that the relationship between properties of knowledge and innovation performance is more pronounced when the firm has higher absorptive capacity.

Originality/value

The study indicates that properties of knowledge and absorptive capacity are two inseparable determinants for innovation performance, and absorptive capacity moderates the relationship between properties of knowledge and innovation performance.
Formation mechanism of knowledge rigidity in firms
Authors: Zhou Zhong , Chen Zhigao
Published: August 2011

Purpose

Based on definition and characteristic analysis, this paper seeks to propose a formation mechanism of knowledge rigidity, which is constituted by the effects of three precipitating factors: time‐effectiveness of knowledge, reinforcing effectiveness, and sunk cost effect in knowledge selection mechanism.

Design/methodology/approach

By presenting knowledge time‐effectiveness model, reinforcing effectiveness model, and knowledge selection mechanism, the paper theoretically analyzes firms' rigid behavior of knowledge application. Theories of increasing returns and sunk cost are introduced to explain the formation process of knowledge rigidity in firms. Two cases are presented to analyze the knowledge rigidity in industrial firms basing on the proposed models and mechanism.

Findings

First, the lifecycle of knowledge rigidity is dynamically defined by knowledge time‐effectiveness. Second, the degree of rigidity and firm's dependence on specific knowledge are enhanced by reinforcing effectiveness during the process of application. At the end of the life cycle, the sunk cost mainly hinders a firm's decision making to replace ineffective knowledge.

Research limitations/implications

Quantitative research is needed to further explore the formation mechanism of knowledge rigidity and to present operational approaches for practitioners. The proposed models and mechanism are useful for understanding the knowledge rigidity and analyzing its formation mechanism in firms.

Practical implications

This paper provides theoretical support to realize knowledge rigidity in KM practice. Three indicators were proposed to evaluate the rigidity and action suggestions were given to help control knowledge rigidity in firms.

Originality/value

Causal analysis models and a formation mechanism are proposed to show how knowledge rigidity forms.
Organizational memory and empowerment
Authors: Dunham Annette H. , Burt Christopher D.B.
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to test a model of the relationship between organizational memory and empowerment. The model posited that organizational memory would be related to requests to share knowledge, psychological empowerment in the workplace (meaning, competence, self‐determination and impact), and organization‐based self‐esteem.

Design/methodology/approach

The model was tested with 134 employees representing six companies using hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings

Significant relationships were found between organizational memory and requests to share knowledge, empowerment, and organization‐based self‐esteem. Findings indicated that a positive stereotype may exist towards older workers and the frequency they are requested to share knowledge, and that a halo‐type effect may operate, where knowledge of an organization's history is generalized to other knowledge domains.

Research limitations/implications

Causal implications cannot be made as this was correlational research. Some of the research measures while achieving acceptable to good reliability were in an early development stage. The study utilized a convenience sample that may limit how the results can be generalized.

Practical implications

The paper indicates that organizations can emphasize positive outcomes for those who are knowledge repositories and mentors. It is also important to consider possible “positive stereotypes” which may be operating when organizational members evaluate older workers as knowledge repositories and mentors.

Originality/value

The paper addresses the assumptions in the human resources literature concerning the role of older workers as repositories of organizational memory and suitable mentors. The study introduces the “requests to share knowledge scale”.
Public health and social housing: a natural alliance
Authors: Johnson Robin
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to comment on current evolving UK policy in public health and social housing; and especially to outline “blind spots” in conventional health research approaches that have tended to obscure the evidence and potential in collaborative working.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper summarises policy developments, in the light of recent relevant research. Mental health is used as an example.

Findings

Public health policy in the UK is new and rapidly developing; but the evidence base remains scattered across different disciplines and their various disparate communication channels. Any new public health strategy focussed on health inequalities needs to recognise the role that social housing already plays in supporting concentrations of the more vulnerable. Better recognition of the everyday social and especially mental health problems that social housing staff deal with illustrates the central role of housing management as the defining factor in social housing, and the potential for partnerships with public health.

Originality/value

This paper offers a contemporary overview and comment; but it also introduces to the readership recent research findings that shed new light upon the potential in closer alignment of public health and social housing management practice.
Depaul International
Authors: McGreevy Mark , Slade Rachel
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to take a look at the growth and development of Depaul International, the parent company of a group of charities that work to tackle homelessness around the world, as an international homelessness charity.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper looks at the approach of Depaul International and the key role that community networks and local start‐ups have to bear on the company's expansion into becoming a global organisation.

Findings

This paper shows how the ability to work within a broad network of governments and an international community with grass roots impact has been vital to Depaul International's expansion.

Originality/value

Homelessness is an issue that affects people across the world in a variety of ways and it means different things in different cultures. This paper demonstrates Depaul International's response to this issue: not to offer a top down response, but to help local people set up their own independent charities that are governed locally but have the guidance and expertise of the Depaul group, so that together a global response can be offered to homelessness.
Different models of health and social care in Devon – observations and implications for commissioners and providers
Authors: Pearson Virginia , Chant Simon
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The organisation of health and social care in Devon including Torbay and Plymouth has developed over the last few years into different organisational structures. This paper aims to compare these different models.

Design/methodology/approach

Routine information and audit data were analysed to explore what was known about the different organisational models in health and social care in Devon.

Findings

There is evidence from these data that more highly integrated models of care have demonstrable benefits for users and for local health and social care economies.

Research limitations/implications

The local organisational models are complex and it is not known whether they are transferable to other settings. The data used in the study are routine data, and therefore, may include confounding factors; the local audit data may be subject to observer error. More research is recommended in this area.

Practical implications

As health and social care services move towards greater integration and the health care market creates different combinations of provider integration, this paper discusses what routine data can tell us about these models of care and what the implications are for both commissioners and providers of health and social care in the future.

Originality/value

Benefits of health and social care integration are often described by case study and this review using quantitative data adds to the evidence base supporting integration as a way forward.
Commissioning at the Interface
Authors: Wiggin Christa
Published: August 2011

This Case Study examines how joint commissioning has been implemented in Oxfordshire in relation to learning disability services. It describes the context in which joint commissioning has developed, the Oxfordshire model for this care group, and the financial and human resources structures which support the model. The Case Study analyses some of the positive outcomes of this approach alongside areas of particular challenge.
Care Management in Wales: Perceptions of Front‐line Workers
Authors: McGrath Morag , Ramcharan Paul , Grant Gordon , Parry‐Jones Beth , Caldock Kerry , Robinson Catherine
Published: August 2011

This paper describes how front‐line workers in Wales experience care management. A minority of workers felt that the aims of community care were being achieved whilst few of the core tasks of care management were felt by a majority of respondents to be working well. Lack of time and resources were viewed as major constraints upon good care management practice and infrastructure supports were found to be inadequate. The findings raise key questions over the structure and practice of care (case) management and point to a number of areas in which policy and practice might be improved.
The Wider Agenda: Local Governance, Public Participation and Other Matters
Authors: Gaster Lucy
Published: August 2011

This case study reflects on issues raised by four case studies in the ‘mixed economy’ of community care (published in earlier issues of this journal). It connects these with wider policy issues arising from new patterns of delivery of local public services. The ‘local governance’ agenda reinforces the need for collaborative approaches with the private and voluntary sectors. However, in the context of market forces and conflicting values, ‘partnerships’ are fragile, service quality can be undermined by technical and financial contractual considerations, and it is all too easy to exclude ‘citizens’ from service planning. Finally, although British central‐local government relations are often antagonistic, the local implementation of community care legislation demonstrates yet again the pragmatism of local government and its ability to take on and develop the new role of democratic ‘enabler’.
Developing the Health Service: Chaos or Cohesion?
Authors: Willis Andrew
Published: August 2011

This Case Study outlines some aspects of how healthcare may be developed in a manner that embraces improved sensitivity to the needs of individuals and local communities; improved efficiency, quality and effectiveness of services; improved equity that strives for the fair dispersal of limited resources according to need and improved cohesion between different health and social services. It encompasses models of commissioning at district, locality and practice levels, and challenges several assertions made by politicians from both the Conservative and Labour parties. It offers a logical means of developing a primary care‐led NHS that is consistent with a quest for equity, and that truly supports the separation of purchasing from commissioning.
Managing Care and Managing Budgets: The Development of Care Management in Suffolk
Authors: Smith David
Published: August 2011

This Case Study describes the history of care management policy and practice in Suffolk Social Services Department in the period 1992‐97. It highlights both the achievements gained and the problems encountered, and explains why, in the light of a comprehensive review in 1996, it was decided to continue rather than change the model.
Characteristics for Sustained Advocacy Projects in Mental Health Services
Authors: Barker Ingrid , Newbiggin Karen , Peck Edward
Published: August 2011

This Case Study describes research which identifies the common features of successful advocacy schemes in mental health services.
Getting it Together: Combining Health and Social Services — The Background
Authors: Meads Geoff
Published: August 2011

This Case Study considers the potential for more effective social services and health collaboration at the primary care level in the future, concluding that a process of continuous exploration is necessary and inevitable.
Selling the Family Silver or Building for Tomorrow? The Largescale Voluntary Transfer of Council Housing
Authors: Smith David
Published: August 2011

Over the last few years, millions of pounds of private finance have been levered into social rented housing — a sector which not long ago was almost totally state‐controlled or ‐funded. New houses have been built and much‐needed repairs and improvements have been carried out to a stock which stood very little chance of renovation without this injection of private funds. Although much of this investment has been through traditional housing associations, novel forms of social housing ownership have emerged, and this Case Study describes the transfer of more than 4,400 properties from Eastleigh Borough Council to a purpose‐formed housing association. It outlines those areas which may be of interest to NHS and social services planners contemplating a similar route.
Community Care for Older People: Taking the Broad View for Radical Change
Authors: Poxton Richard
Published: August 2011

The Health and social care needs of older people cover a large number of different systems, resulting in inadequate priorities for their needs. There is no single acknowledged ‘big issue’ for older people's health and social care. We need concerted effort to achieve clarity and consensus on key issues such as quality, rights, entitlements, and levels of funding. A national initiative, led by Government, is required, built on the involvement of older people and a genuine respect for them.
Outlands: Five Years on
Authors: Younger‐Ross Sue , Lomax Tess
Published: August 2011

The ‘Outlands Pilot’ was a joint project set up in 1992 by Devon Social Services Department and the Health Authority. It offered an intermediate setting between hospital and home. Elderly people who had been assessed as needing residential care after discharge from hospital were admitted instead to the Outlands Unit for a six‐week period of rehabilitation. The explicit aim was to rebuild people's confidence and physical independence, so that they could manage at home again. This paper reports on the success of the model and barriers to its wider use.
Client Feedback: Does it Lead to Improved Services? Part 2: An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Annual Client Feedback Surveys
Authors: Lewin Gill
Published: August 2011

Having Developed a valid and reliable client feedback survey tool, described in Part 1 of this paper (MCC, 6.1), Silver Chain went on to implement an association‐wide annual survey and then to evaluate the survey's effectiveness. This paper reports on the outcome of this evaluation.
Information for Older People: A Vital but Missing Link in Community Care
Authors: May Helen
Published: August 2011

The United Kingdom as it approaches the millennium is frequently described as both an ‘information society’ and an ‘ageing society’. This paper outlines the findings of a piece of research exploring the relationship between older people and information, with particular references to the National Health Service and Community Care Act, 1990. The research findings suggest that urgent action is required if older people are fully to participate in and benefit from the information society.
The New National Health Service and Community Care
Authors: Carruthers Ian
Published: August 2011

THIS ARTICLE APPRAISES the Government's White Paper, The New NHS: Modern, Dependable, from the perspective of a health authority chief executive, outlining the context for developing health care, the joint challenges of the White Paper and the Green Paper, Our Healthier Nation, the role and potential of primary care groups (in detail), the developing role of the health authority, and the agenda for shaping and improving the delivery of health and health services. It ends with an appraisal of particular implications for community care.
Devon Social Services: Developing a New Approach to Care Management
Authors: Searle Paul
Published: August 2011

This Paper Describes how Devon Social Services is undertaking a major revision of its care management policy in response to greatly increased levels of demand. Devon is attempting to develop a differentiated response that is more efficient and effective for the organisation, and that also gives more control to users and carers over their care arrangements.
Joint Investment Plans: Action or Bureaucracy?
Authors: Greig Rob
Published: August 2011

Clarity Over Finances is a non‐negotiable prerequisite of success in using joint investment plans to improve services to users. Health and local authorities should not under‐estimate the complexity of the task that lies before them — and government must be entirely clear about what it expects authorities to do.
Community Care: A Scottish Perspective
Authors: Bonthron Stanley
Published: August 2011

Community Care is a major policy initiative in Scotland, involving an annual expenditure of nearly £750m by local authority social work departments and substantial investment by health and housing agencies. The principles of the policy that people should be cared for at home or in homely settings are broadly supported, but unease about implementation remains. Scotland has retained a greater ratio of long‐stay hospital provision, and dependence on residential solutions to community care needs remain high. The inception of the new Scottish Parliament in 1999 will bring new challenges and opportunities for the development of this key policy.
Evidence‐Based Everything: Some Implications for Community Care
Authors: Acton Mary
Published: August 2011

The evidence‐based approach to social services will deliver higher quality only if the necessary evidence on what works is there and available to managers. Success will also require an organisational change, away from the ‘culture of action’ and towards one of assessment, reflection and training; evidence is of no value unless it is understood and digested.
Eligibility Criteria: A Case of Muddling Through?
Authors: Janzon Karin
Published: August 2011

Prioritising in social services is not new. What has changed in the last ten years is that there has been a more open debate about the way in which scarce resources are rationed and a move towards explicit policies of eligibility and targeting of services. Most authorities have developed some statement of priority with which to guide the allocation of resources, though authorities vary widely in their approach. This article looks at the current state of play in this controversial policy area.
Back to the Future: Outcomes of Ten‐Year Health Planning Pilots
Authors: Riley Christopher , Longley Marcus
Published: August 2011

In 1992, a project was begun to identify new health and social care options and to benchmark strategies for improving health over the next decade. This paper examines outcomes of three of the associated pilots, and considers what benefits were achieved, given the changing policy emphasis that followed the initiation of the project.
Better Government for Older People
Authors: Younger‐Ross Sue
Published: August 2011

This introductory article describes the Better Government for Older People initiative and its links with community care. The author argues that, unless the Warwick Consortium analysis is properly understood, community care planning for older people will be deficient. Some challenges remaining to be addressed by government in support of the Better Government agenda are suggested.
Carers: Making the Connections
Authors: Banks Penny
Published: August 2011

The development of a national strategy for carers underlines the importance of making the connections between all the different policies which impinge on carers. This needs to be mirrored at a local level, where there are some moves to embed support to carers within mainstream health and social services. However, achieving positive change for carers' needs not only more coherence about carers' relationship with the whole system of care, but also better ways of monitoring services.
Don't Blame Me; I'm Only the Government
Authors: Willis Andrew
Published: August 2011

CCMP, the predecessor of this journal, published a case study entitled ‘Developing the health service: chaos or cohesion?’ in volume 5, June 1997. The paper challenged certain aspects of what was then government policy for developing the health service. This article looks back at that case study in the light of subsequent events. It concludes that, while most of its ideas can be seen in Labour's subsequent White Paper The New NHS: Modern, Dependable, there were significant areas where its ideas failed to gain acceptance.
Primary Health Care and Social Care: Working across Professional Boundaries: Part Two: Models of Inter‐Professional Collaboration
Authors: Hudson Bob
Published: August 2011

In the second part of this two‐part feature, four models of inter‐professional collaboration are explored, each of them representing points on a continuum from lower to higher levels of collaboration.The four are:• Communication: interactions are confined to facilitating the exchange of information.• Co‐ordination: individuals remain in separate organisations and locations, but develop formal ways of working across these boundaries.• Co‐location: members of different professions are physically located alongside each other.• Commissioning: professionals with a commissioning remit develop a shared approach to the activity
Mental Health and Substance Misuse: A Priority for Policy and Practice
Authors: Barker Ingrid
Published: August 2011

Despite Policy Statements and abundant evidence of the particular needs and problems of those with a dual diagnosis of mental health problems and substance misuse, very little that is effective is being done for this group. The paper reviews the evidence and considers some of the solutions proposed.
Care/Case Management at the Crossroads
Authors: Manthorpe Jill
Published: August 2011

The International Conference on Long‐Term Care/Case Management took place in December. Following a review of MCC's articles on care management in England and Wales in the last issue, here the author records impressions from the conference of some current international thinking about care management and quality.
The Royal Commission and Structures for Elder Care
Authors: Vellenoweth Chris
Published: August 2011

The report of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care, published in March 1999, is to be subject to further consultation, thus delaying any progress on its recommendations which include important links to other Government initiatives in health and social care. The paper argues that its proposal for a National Care Commission could be the missing link to equity of care provision and care standards for older people, and early implementation should not be lost.
New Solutions to Street Homelessness
Authors: Ghosh Shaks
Published: August 2011

Homelessness is not just a housing problem. People who sleep rough tend to have complex and longstanding problems, not just a problem with housing. Support will be an essential part of a lasting solution to the problem of rough sleeping, adding a new dimension to the ‘bricks and mortar’ service traditionally provided by housing professionals.
Messages from the Front Line: Joint Health and Social Care Rehabilitation
Authors: Trappes‐Lomax Tessa
Published: August 2011

This paper reports key messages for policy makers, drawn from a workshop held for local health and social care staff with responsibilities for running or setting up short‐term residential rehabilitation for elderly and disabled people. The aim was to learn from each other's experiences and to provide a nuts‐and‐bolts framework for the development of local joint investment plans.
Learning Disability Services (and Beyond): Will Having an Evidence Base Make a Difference?
Authors: Greig Rob
Published: August 2011

Eric Emerson's recently published research on the costs and quality of village, residential communities and supported housing should bring to an end an argument that has bedevilled learning disability services for a number of years. The most important questions raised by the research are arguably those that lie beneath the surface of the village community vs. ordinary life debate ‐ and also have an importance well beyond the learning disability field.
On Developing Primary Care Groups as Effective Organisations
Authors: Waddington Paul , Filby Mike
Published: August 2011

Primary care groups need to address some uncomfortable issues if they are to become effective as organisations in their local networks. The paper examines PCGs' relationships with their health authorities, given the inherent contradictions in national policy, and recommends a devolved approach to ensure that a range of stakeholders can participate in their work.
Seeking Residents' Views in Homes for Older People: A User's Perspective on an Approach
Authors: Walkerden Steve , Campbell Tina
Published: August 2011

This short article describes the experiences of a major provider of residental care for older people in Australia, in ascertaining the views of their residents. It discusses resource implications, outlines benefits and recommends the use of a specific approach which provides a practical demonstration of a commitment to quality care.
Developing A Preventive Approach with Older People
Authors: Waddington Eileen , Godfrey Mary
Published: August 2011

There has been a growing policy emphasis on prevention and the promotion of independence for older people. Are we clear, however, what we mean by prevention and how far authorities have been able to balance the needs of service users with promoting the well‐being of older people in general?
Involving Users and Carers in Developing Standards for Mental Health Services for Older People
Authors: Finch Jenny , Orrell Martin
Published: August 2011

Consensus groups were held, two with users and one with carers, to refine standards for evaluation of mental health services for older people. The main issues of concern were the role of general practitioners, organisation of transport, consistency in the input of the various disciplines, communication with users and carers in in‐patient care, complaints and the facility to have care workers in the home. The paper describes the steps taken in preparing for and carrying out the discussions, and the way in which the standards were revised.
The National Service Framework for Mental Health
Authors: Davidson Deborah
Published: August 2011

This article describes and reflects on the standards set out in the new National Service Framework for Mental Health, as they relate to policy development in mental health and social inclusion. It highlights both positive contributions and missed opportunities.
A Matter of Evidence
Authors: Hodson Rhiannon , Pitt Steve
Published: August 2011

Research in the personal social services has historically been something of a side‐show, but various developments are combining to bring it centrestage. Unless these are managed strategically, the danger is that the impact of evidence on practice will remain at the margins. This article describes how Hampshire's Social Services Department has set about developing a strategy to support evidence‐based practice.
New Connections Between Public Health and Social Services
Authors: Robinson Janice , Griffiths Siân
Published: August 2011

New public health policies present social services with new opportunities and challenges. A shared public health and social care agenda is emerging around health improvement, social exclusion and regeneration. Early signs of synergy indicate that social services have a key role to play in shaping the public health agenda and in acting as a bridge between the NHS and the wider local authority.
Upsetting the Apple Cart Whilst Pulling it along the Road: Implementing the National Service Framework for Mental Health
Authors: Peck Edward , Grove Bob , Howell Valerie
Published: August 2011

This paper argues that the traditional approach to translating national policy into local practice, based as it is on a metaphor of organisations as machines, will not lead to effective implementation of the national service framework for mental health. The recent innovations of performance management and evidence‐based practice will not rectify the failures inherent in that traditional approach. Rather, the paper contends that there is need for a broader range of metaphors of organisations to be deployed in the creation of a robust implementation process and suggests three ‐ negotiated order, chaos theory and learning theory ‐ that the authors have found of particular value.