subject: Sustainability of Later Life Care in a Challenging Democracy [print this page] The vision for sustainability of later life care needs are to uphold a holistic assessment of functional activities of daily living; taking adequate care to risk identifications and management. Thus, offering older people choice and control would promote personalisation and sustainability of independent living and participation in their care. These perspectives among other things; enhances psycho-social wellbeing as well as assisting older people to determine their own social care solutions. Intuitionally, assessment and review of care is a key to sustainability whilst, decision making for enabling support systems clearly define the objectives of care and overreaching outcomes being sought henceforth.
Personalisation of services has provided the platform for older people if able to access "individualised budget, cash for care or direct payments" in anyway that could meet their assessed needs. Their preference to a care model would illuminate best value, and marketisation of social care hence these provide the opportunity for the service to be within budget and accountable. Sustainability however, brings about: effectiveness of delivering social care to older people; efficient management of limited resources whilst delivering quality of care and a vision for economic and proactive sourcing and procurement of services. These dimensions are interrelated to achieving person centred service i.e. providing care that meets individual needs, taking into account risk management and all functional activities of daily living at no extra cost.
Reformulated, individual programme plan (IPP) would give older people and their caregiver's real and informed choice to determine their wellbeing and be free from potential abuse and discrimination in the service. Older people and their carers stand to work together and utilise social workers' knowledge and expertise in conjunction with other professional agencies such as the healthcare workers. Collaboration in this instant would create a lasting opportunities to resolve problems of co-ordination and just in time care management approach. Thus, all the key stakeholders have the propensity to work together with the aim to dissolve hierarchical management structures between health and social care, with the hope to achieve sustainability in the services delivery.
Sustainability of Later Life Care in a Challenging Democracy
