The details and registration link for the next Home Care Research Forum is on Wednesday 18th May, 2-4pm.
Please register via: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/home-care-research-forum-weds-18th-may-2022-2-4pm-registration-315290671887
This Forum will focus on the impacts of Covid-19, with two exciting talks:
Talk 1 – Care Act Duties and Covid-19: reflections on the rationing of social care*
Speaker: Neil Allen - Manchester Institute for Collaborative Research on Ageing; School of Social Science, University of Manchester
Co-authors: Dr Philip Drake, Dr Jane Astbury, Professor Debora Price
Summary: In this NIHR funded project, we investigated the operation of Care Act easement under the Coronavirus Act. In this talk, we review the events that have happened to understand local authority Care Act duties and people’s rights to home care under pandemic conditions. We argue that the rationing of social care by local authorities was a rational and probably unavoidable response to the extraordinary and unprecedented conditions of the pandemic. However the uneven way this was done as between easement and non-easement areas, and the ways in which easements (rather than non-easements) were challenged by stakeholders, have exposed substantial ambiguities in how we understand statutory duties arising under the Care Act. This lack of clarity creates a great deal of uncertainty as to what Local Authority duties were under pandemic conditions, how needs could best be met, and whether the provision (or lack of it) was and is open to legal challenge by those entitled to home care.
Talk 2 - “I never thought that a PA could actually be a lifesaver”: Experiences of social care PA employers over the Covid-19 pandemic
Speaker: Dr Kritika Samsi – NIHR Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King’s College London
Co-authors: Dr Monica Leverton, Dr John Woolham, Professor Jill Manthorpe
Summary: This qualitative study funded by the NIHR SSCR sought to provide evidence of the experiences of people employing their own directly employed care workers (Personal Assistants) during the Covid-19 pandemic to inform and improve care practice. We interviewed a diverse sample of 70 PA employers across England, as well as 15 members of staff from disability support organisations. We found that the Covid-19 pandemic elucidated and heightened existing challenges facing PA employers, and disabled people more generally. The direct payments system in particular was perceived as rigid and poorly aligned with notions of choice and control, especially in times of crisis. The needs of people receiving support in their own homes is poorly understood or recognised; closer working between disability support organisations, local authorities and central government would help to bridge this gap and inform Covid recovery plans.
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*Additional: The research team from Talk 1 are currently looking for participants to take part in their survey. Please see information and survey link below:
Researchers at the University of Manchester are seeking to understand the experiences of people supporting a family member to live at home with dementia during the pandemic. The study is taking place across the UK, and you do not have to live with the family member to complete the survey. If you are in this position they would love to hear from you, or if you are in a position to help to find respondents, that would be enormously helpful.
The survey is available online or in paper format – the online link is here: https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_3Rcu3T71wOz05eu
They would be very grateful if you could circulate to relevant individuals and networks or post to your social media. If you would prefer a paper copy, please contact Jayne Astbury on [email protected] or telephone 07385 463 137 for delivery of this survey.
