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1 – 10 of over 87000Social care is likely to be a key campaign issue in the 2010 general election. An overview of the current policy positions of the major political parties suggests a consensus in…
Abstract
Social care is likely to be a key campaign issue in the 2010 general election. An overview of the current policy positions of the major political parties suggests a consensus in many areas, notably personalisation, the third sector, reducing bureaucracy, and closer working between health and social care. Differences may be sharper in policy detail and how future funding should be reformed. Irrespective of who wins the election, the forthcoming spending squeeze will focus attention on how to achieve more with fewer resources, and health and social care integration is likely to become a higher policy priority.
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The two East Asian developmental states of Japan and South Korea share very similar familialistic male breadwinner welfare regimes. However, in the recent years, both countries…
Abstract
Purpose
The two East Asian developmental states of Japan and South Korea share very similar familialistic male breadwinner welfare regimes. However, in the recent years, both countries have made significant social policy reforms that are gradually modulating their familialistic male breadwinner welfare regimes. Both countries have extended public support for the family and women by provisioning, regulating, and coordinating childcare, elder care, and work‐family reconciliation programs. At the same time, labour market deregulation reforms have also made employment more insecure, and created greater pressures on women to seek and maintain paid work outside the home. The purpose of this paper is to compare recent social policy reforms in Japan and Korea and discuss their implications for welfare state changes and gender equality. More specifically, it asks whether this signals the end of the old developmental state paradigm and a shift to a more gender equal policy regime.
Design/methodology/approach
To answer this question, the paper examines recent social policy reforms in conjunction with economic and labour market policy reforms that have also been introduced since 1990.
Findings
The analysis of social and economic policy reforms in Japan and South Korea shows a combination of both progressive and instrumentalist motivations behind social care expansions in these countries. Social care reforms in both countries were responses to the evident need for more welfare and gender equality determined by the structural and ideational changes that were taking place. But they were also a remodelling of the earlier developmental state policy framework. Indeed, social care expansions were not merely timely family friendly social policies that aimed to address new social risks; they were also important complements to the employment policy reforms that were being introduced at the same time. By investing in the family, the Japanese and Korean governments sought to mobilize women's human capital, encourage higher fertility, and facilitate job creation in social welfare and care services.
Originality/value
This paper shows how Japanese and South Korean developmental states might be changing and remodelling themselves in the recent decades, and how new social policies are evolving in close coordination with economic and labor market policy reforms.
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The article explores the drivers for legislative and policy change in children's social care in England over the past 60 years. It describes the factors that led to the major…
Abstract
The article explores the drivers for legislative and policy change in children's social care in England over the past 60 years. It describes the factors that led to the major children's social care legislation and explores how these ‘drivers for change’ varied in their importance over time. Particular attention is given to the impact of research evidence as a driver for change among, for example tragedy and media scandal, political developments and changes in practice prompting legislative reform. The article also notes how research has at times provided a background for change while not explicitly promoting the change itself. The use of performance information and research in shaping and monitoring change is seen to have increased in the past 30 years, but with continuing tensions between a natural and necessary research timescale and the political wish for quick and clear answers to pressing issues.
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Katy Cigno, Greta Bradley and Tony Ellingham
Discusses attempts by the government’s political opposition (in the UK) to break the consensus on welfare and considers whether the recent change in political power has materially…
Abstract
Discusses attempts by the government’s political opposition (in the UK) to break the consensus on welfare and considers whether the recent change in political power has materially altered the direction of policy relating to care in the community and the role of social workers. Charts the development of the British welfare state from its conception in 1945 through to the present day, focussing on recent reforms in community care provisions and the role of social workers; details how the profession has been undermined by a series of events and profiles the former government’s response. Identifies that the welfare role of social workers has diminished, and been replaced with a social control function. Concludes that, despite the legacy inherited from the previous government, a shift in the political approach to social services and community care provision is discernible.
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Anjali Ghosh and Eleni Koutsogeorgou
The aim of this chapter is to explore changes since the COVID-19 pandemic in welfare policies and services for people with learning disabilities and autism in England, focusing…
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to explore changes since the COVID-19 pandemic in welfare policies and services for people with learning disabilities and autism in England, focusing mainly on educational and health and social care sectors.
A review of official policy documents published on GOV.UK from January 2020 to May 2021 has been conducted using keywords on the topic in question, and semi-structured interviews took place in 2022 with four key informants/stakeholders working in health and social care or education sectors of people with learning disability or autism in England.
The main findings indicate a need to shift practices online due to the pandemic, for both education and health and social-care practice. It is also clear that reforms and adjustments were implemented in guidance, policies and frameworks for the support of persons with learning disabilities and autism. It has been increasingly difficult for people with disabilities to access healthcare services and medication during the pandemic, and this has had an impact on their overall health and wellbeing too. Experts suggested that smoother changes and more support are required, in terms of provision of services, research, access to healthcare, educational services, mental health, employment, as well as more public funding on such services for people with learning disabilities and autism.
The main lessons learned were focusing on the use of online resources, digitalisation of services and access to them, but also difficulty of the system to adapt fast to major changes required in order to support people with disabilities.
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Axel Kaehne, Derek Birrell, Robin Miller and Alison Petch
The purpose of this paper is to outline relevant policies on the integration of health and social care (HSC) in the four home nations: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline relevant policies on the integration of health and social care (HSC) in the four home nations: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England and offer a comparison of emphasis and approaches and draw out general insights on the implementation of integrated care policy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is written as a piece of critical reflection by drawing on the authors’ knowledge and expertise and wider evidence where available.
Findings
Since 2010, HSC integration has started to diverge significantly in the four constituent countries of the UK. Although England and Wales have undergone considerable re-organisation of the NHS, Scotland and Northern Ireland have largely been marked by organisational continuity. However, beyond organisational differences, policy approaches, policy emphases and implementation strategies have also started to show considerable dissimilarity across the UK. An important contributory factor may be different ideological perspectives on the role of competition and pilots, partnership, patient choice and organisational incentives to bring about change in the field.
Research limitations/implications
The paper identifies a serious lack of comparative research in integration policy, despite the considerable opportunities for quasi-experimental studies. This lack of empirical research impedes shared learning across the home nations.
Originality/value
The paper presents a descriptive comparison of current integration policy between HSC providers in the four home nations. It reveals considerable opportunities for further research and comparative modelling of integration approaches.
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Fiona Henderson, Kelly Hall, Audrey Mutongi and Geoff Whittam
This study aims to explore the opportunities and challenges Self-directed Support policy has presented to Scottish social enterprises, thereby increasing understanding of emerging…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the opportunities and challenges Self-directed Support policy has presented to Scottish social enterprises, thereby increasing understanding of emerging social care markets arising from international policy-shifts towards empowering social care users to self-direct their care.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used guided conversations with a purposive sample of 19 stakeholders sampled from frontline social care social enterprises; social work; third sector; health; and government.
Findings
An inconsistent social care market has emerged across Scotland as a result of policy change, providing both opportunities and challenges for social enterprises. Social innovation emerged from a supportive partnership between the local authority and social enterprise in one area, but elsewhere local authorities remained change-resistant, evidencing path dependence. Challenges included the private sector “creaming” clients and geographic areas and social enterprises being scapegoated where the local market was failing.
Research limitations/implications
This study involved a small purposively sampled group of stakeholders specifically interested in social enterprise, and hence the findings are suggestive rather than conclusive.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to currently limited academic understanding of the contribution of social enterprise to emerging social care markets arising from the international policy-shifts. Through an historical institutionalism lens, this study also offers new insight into interactions between public institutions and social enterprise care providers. The insights from this paper will support policymakers and researchers to develop a more equitable, sustainable future for social care provision.
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Christian Beech and Fiona Verity
The purpose of this paper is to explore interprofessional and multidisciplinary working between health and social care practitioners providing services to older people through the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore interprofessional and multidisciplinary working between health and social care practitioners providing services to older people through the prism of how risk is assessed and managed. It proposes that whilst interprofessional and multidisciplinary working is a broad and commonly researched topic, there is a relative paucity of evidence specifically regarding how health and social care practitioners work together across structural, cultural and ideological divides. The study aims to expand the domain of integrated health and social care by including perceptions, understanding and use of the concept of risk by professionals from different disciplines.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based upon an exploratory study using an interpretivist phenomenological perspective, including 23 semi-structured individual interviews with health and social care practitioners and 2 non-participant observations of multidisciplinary team meetings.
Findings
The paper provides empirical insights around the complex dynamics of interprofessional and multidisciplinary working between health and social care practitioners, in particular the saliency of the interconnectedness of individual practitioner Personalities with the Process of interprofessional and multidisciplinary working under the auspices of relevant Policy drivers.
Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted in Wales and, due to the increasingly divergent policy context within the UK, the research results may lack generalisability from a wider UK or international perspective. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the propositions of this research further.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for both interprofessional and multidisciplinary policy and practice with older people. With new models of integrated care being sought, the findings of this study may offer a timely and valuable contribution, particularly from the inclusion of a social care perspective and in better understanding the interconnectedness of practitioner personalities with process and policy.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified need to study the complex dynamics and interconnectedness between health and social care practitioners who work together to provide services to older people.
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Inbar Livnat and Michal Almog-Bar
This article asks how gender, ethnicity and other identities intersect and shape the employment experiences of social workers. During recent decades, governments have contracted…
Abstract
Purpose
This article asks how gender, ethnicity and other identities intersect and shape the employment experiences of social workers. During recent decades, governments have contracted social care to for-profit and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) globally as a part of the adaption of the neoliberal approach. Most employees in these organizations are women. However, there is a lack of knowledge about women working in social service NPOs and their unique working environments.
Design/methodology/approach
This article explores the experiences of women employed as social workers in social care NPOs in Israel regarding intersectionality. 27 in-depth interviews were conducted with women social workers working in social service NPOs. Participants reflected diversity in ethnicity, religion and full-time and part-time jobs. Thematic analysis was used.
Findings
The findings shed light on: (1) the contradiction social workers experienced between the stated values of the social care NPO and those values’ conduct, (2) intersectional discrimination among social workers from vulnerable populations and (3) the lack of gender-aware policies.
Social implications
The need to raise awareness of the social care sector and governments to those contradictions and to promote diversity through gender-aware policies and practices.
Originality/value
The article suggests a conceptualization describing gender employment contradictions in social care NPOs, discusses how the angle of intersectionality expands the understanding of the complexities and pressures exerted on social workers from minority groups and emphasizes the need for social care NPOs to acknowledge and deal with these contradictions.
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This article proposes principles for reforming English adult social care by drawing on the experiences of other countries. These illustrate how the funding, organisation and…
Abstract
This article proposes principles for reforming English adult social care by drawing on the experiences of other countries. These illustrate how the funding, organisation and delivery of services could be reformed, and shed light on the potential political and social factors affecting implementation of reforms.Reforms in other countries are commonly driven by the desire to develop and/or maintain universal access to social care. Formerly fragmented, un‐co‐ordinated and locally variable arrangements are being replaced with universal schemes, with national eligibility arrangements applicable to everyone regardless of age or ability to pay. Cash payments (personal budgets etc) instead of services in kind are widely used. However, such options can have different aims, including supporting family carers and stimulating local provider markets, as well as offering ‘consumer’ choice. Policies for family carers are usually integral to overall long‐term care arrangements. Finally, even in federal systems like Germany, Austria, Spain and Australia, central governments play a crucial role in ensuring universal, equitable and sustainable social care. Central government leadership: maximises risk pooling; enhances budgetary control mechanisms; safeguards equity and quality control; and provides political legitimacy.
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