Transcript Slide 1

Social Work with Older People: A
Vision for the Future
Getting in on the Act: The implications of new legislation for
social work in Wales
Judith Phillips
Liz Lloyd
Social Work with Older People:
where did it go?
Under valued compared with work with
children and families. Successive reforms
have:
1. undermined the identity & status of social work
with older people (social care is not the same)
2. led to the dominance of an ‘administrative
model’ of practice
3. reinforced negative perceptions of old age
(Richards et al, 2013)
Opportunities for social work in Wales
under the new Act
1. History of public service values and potential
to build on these in 21st century
2. Citizen directed support and co-production
3. Promotion of third sector organisations
4. Integration of children and adults social
services (‘patch’ working)
5. Recognition of the importance of professional
judgement
6. Collaboration with other professional groups
Social Work with Older People: what is
distinctive about it?
• Knowledge of ageing and the life course
• Skilled working with complexity, risk and change
• Building and sustaining relationships
• Integrated working with families & carers
• Advocacy & specialised advice
• Knowledgeable practice: law, policy & services
• Holistic assessment, care planning & review
• Social/structural perspectives on need
• Recognition of diversity & heterogeneity
What do older service users value
about social work?
• Advice and advocacy; negotiating with other
agencies; counselling & psychotherapeutic support;
signposting & practical guidance (National User Network
Beresford, 2007)
• “knowledge about specialist services, persistence,
commitment, reliability, being supportive, sympathetic
and prepared to listen” (Manthorpe et al., 2008: 1142)
• social work relationships that give due weight to the
older person’s perspective in assessments. (Richards,
2000)
What do older service users value
about social work? (2)
• Process is as important to older people as outcomes
• Understanding of the impact of inequalities and
discrimination on people’s need
• Commitment to challenging discrimination, stigma &
working within an anti-ageist framework
• Commitment to user self determination & a strengths
based approach
• Commitment to social justice
(Milne et al, 2014))
Reinvigorating social work with older people: a
good time in Wales
• Ageing population & increasing numbers of the
oldest-old (53,792 aged 80+ = 5.02% of pop)
• Greater awareness of
- complex health needs in old age
- extent of social isolation & loneliness
- elder abuse (in community and institutional)
- need for better end-of-life care
- roles of carers and their right to support
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What tensions might there be?
1. Resources! the potential for a gap between
the rhetoric and the reality
2. Culture change required in perceptions of
older people with support needs.
• In the context of citizen-directed support,
what is the position of the frail and
dependent person?
3. Culture change needed in provision for
older people – beyond basic care needs
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Thinking ahead
• Evidence-enriched practice: Access to resources in
Wales
• Build on social work’s orientation towards social
justice through alignments with older people’s
organisations and third sector. Promote coproduction
• (Re)ignite interest in SW with older people amongst
Social workers and students extend the reach of
social work into the third sector (older people
involved in this – relevant to co-production,
citizenship imperatives.)
• Develop the alignment between social justice
and care
−Rights are essential but not sufficient to
ensure good care
−What rights mean in reality is what counts
• In the Code of Practice for the Wales Act the
definition of ‘independent living’ should be
consistent with that in UN Convention on the
Rights of People with Disabilities
• A human-rights framework for practice with
older people in the care system. Current activity
at UN – Open-ended Working Group on Ageing
and through European Network of National
Human Rights Institutions -ENNHRI
References
• ADASS (2010) The Future of Social Work in Adult Social Services in England, DH
• Kaplan, DB & Berkman, B (2011) Dementia Care: A global concern and social work challenge,
International Social Work, 54, 361-73
• Lloyd, L.(2006) A Caring Profession? The Ethics of Care and Social Work with Older People,
British Journal of Social Work, 36, 1171-85
• Milne, A., Sullivan, M.P., Tanner, D., Richards, S., Ray, M., Lloyd, L., Beech, C and Phillips, J
(2014) Social Work with Older People: A Vision for the Future, TCSW, London
• Milne, A et al., (2014) Future Directions for Investment: Social Work with Older People, TCSW,
London
• Ray, M and Phillips, J (2012) Social Work with Older People, Palgrave
• Ray, M., Milne, A et al., (2014) Gerontological Social Work: Reflections on its Role, Purpose
and Value, British Journal of Social Work 1–17, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bct195
• Lloyd, L et al., (2013) Look after yourself: active ageing, individual responsibility and the
decline of social work with older people in the UK, European Journal of Social Work first
published online 23rd September DOI: 10.1080/13691457.2013.829805
• Richards, S et al., (2013) On the edge of a new frontier: Is gerontological social work in the
UK ready to meet 21st century challenges? British Journal of Social Work, first published
online May 10 doi:10.1093/bjsw/bct082
• Sullivan, M. P. (2009) Social Workers in Community Care Practice: Ideologies and Interactions
with Older People, British Journal of Social Work, 39, 1306-25