The Digital Skills Framework covers seven key themes for effective digital working and can help people working in adult social care to develop their digital skills. It can be also used alongside training courses on the digital skills resource page.
The framework has been published in draft. More detail, including specific skills and capabilities for each theme, will be added once we have tested them further and based on feedback
There are more requests for publicly funded social care in England than ever before, yet the number of people receiving it continues to fall, finds a new report from The King’s Fund.
The latest figures show that requests for support from both older people, and particularly working age adults, have increased significantly to around 1.98 million. Yet the number of people receiving long-term care has fallen to 818,000 in 2021/22, a 55,000 drop from 2015/16. Older people have been worst affected, with numbers receiving long-term care down to 529,000 in 2021/22– a fall of 23,000 in just one year.
Only one in seven of the British public are satisfied with social care services, according to analysis of the British Social Attitudes survey by the Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund.
The analysis from the two health and care think tanks reveals that just 14 per cent of the 3,362 people questioned said they were very or quite satisfied with social care. Of these, only 2 per cent were very satisfied. On the other hand, dissatisfaction rose significantly to 57 per cent of respondents (up from 50% per cent in the previous year) and reached its highest level recorded.
Opinion piece. ‘These revised steps towards “reform” will do little to radically change the system and, at best, are the bare minimum needed to stop it from collapsing. The impact of no credible plan in the context of the current pressures, will be felt by the millions of people who need care and support to live their lives, their carers, and those working in the sector.'
The researchers made several recommendations for policy and practice of how needs related to both homelessness and trauma can be understood and addressed together.
Self-neglect can be associated with hoarding and other mental health problems
Self-neglect is an extreme lack of self-care, sometimes associated with hoarding, and may be a result of other issues such as addictions, according to the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Children in asylum-seeking families are increasingly subject to deterrent host nation policies that undermine security in the post-migration context, however, little is known on the mental health consequences of such policy. This study examined the impact of prolonged visa insecurity on child mental health, by comparing two cohorts of refugee children entering Australia between 2010 and 2013, distinguished by visa security. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
This paper aims to explore the content of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) from older adult care homes to understand how safety is understood and might be measured in practice. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
A combined service as outlined by Belcher et al’s study would certainly be of value to service users, and potentially improve the capacity of IAPT practitioners to deliver treatment interventions effectively.
However, in any pilot initiative that follows this research, it will be essential to consider the implications for practitioners in terms of role boundaries and capacities. IAPT practitioners already work to strict protocols and time parameters; introducing new elements to their information-giving role needs to be sensitively considered, and staff need to be equipped with relevant information and expertise before being given new duties.
This paper describes the risk factors associated with working during the pandemic. We have mapped recommendations for each problem using these qualitative findings including tailored training and better support for isolated team members and identified the required changes at several socio-ecological levels. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Providing higher-intensity unpaid care (higher care hours or care within the household) is associated with negative impacts on people's paid employment, mental health and well-being. We investigated the effects of providing care for 10 or more hours a week or within the household in interaction with people's socio-demographic characteristics. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
An opportunity but also a challenge for newly created integrated care systems (ICSs) is how to best engage with adult social care to deliver on ambitions to support the health, wellbeing and independence of their populations, addressing workforce challenges and designing integrated, person-centred services. It was for this reason that NHS England asked The King’s Fund to explore with adult social care providers their hopes and expectations for integrated care systems, their current level of engagement in ICSs and what could be done to improve involvement.
Overprescribing is a safety concern in care homes as approximately half of older care home residents are prescribed at least one medicine that is unnecessary or now harmful. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
This paper presents findings of a mixed methods ethnographic study drawing on qualitative interviews and visual methods underpinned by social practice theory to explore the household food practices of older people receiving Meals on Wheels services.
The vast majority of older adults who are chronically ill rely on informal caregivers for support. Caregivers often require additional support to facilitate their role. Using existing research, this scoping review provides a comprehensive picture of what caregivers have indicated as priorities for support. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Older persons in Sweden are increasingly encouraged to continue living at home and, if necessary, be supported by home care services (HCS). This study examined associations between home care staff's perceptions of their psychosocial work environment and satisfaction with care among older people receiving HCS. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
The Health and Care Act 2022 and concurrent reforms to the public health system have introduced a range of changes and some simplifications to the landscape of national bodies in the health and care system.
Here, we explain the core functions of the national bodies with the most significant role in setting policy for and shaping the operation of the health and care system. We also look at how these organisations are held accountable for carrying out those functions and the extent to which central government can direct them.
[Report] To explore how local authorities make improvements and measure success, and what type of support they use to make improvements, we conducted 27 interviews with those involved in improving adult social care in local authorities. We explored the adult social care improvement ‘stories’ in five local authorities and compared what we heard with established approaches and principles of quality improvement used in many sectors.