The Role of Social Specialist in the Elderly Homecare - Research Paper Example

The Role of Social Specialist in the Elderly Homecare Social specialists play a crucial role in providing service to elderly people. Jill Manthorpe, professor of Social Work at King’s College and Director of Social Workforce Research Unit and her colleagues conducted a research to examine the role of social specialist in elderly healthcare. The study of Jill Manthorpe, which appears in oxford journals, borrowed a lot the objectives of National Service Framework for Older People (NSFOP). The aims of this study were first to prove whether older people had poor access to support than the younger generation. The second aim of the research was to get first hand information from the older people their perception of the duties and activities of social workers (Manthorpe et al 2008:1133). According to this study, there were mixed perceptions about the role of social speciality in elderly homecare. A portion of older people said that social specialists provided essential advice and information about home care. The respondents felt a section of social workers were very helpful. This is because such social workers responded promptly and gave in-depth knowledge about services to meet particular circumstances the elderly people faced. The finding also captured complains from elderly people that the social specialist demonstrated incompetence in execution of their work. Another section of elderly people expressed their dissatisfaction about the roles of social workers. For instance, the old group cited that the social workers had unhelpful attitudes and misused funds. On top of this, social workers displayed laxity in their response to requests for aids and carrying out social care assessments. Some of elderly people complained that social specialist refused to offer services to them even after general practitioners made original referral requesting assistance for aging individuals (Manthorpe et al, 2008:1138). Another study in European Journal of Social Work looks at the role of social specialist in nursing and residential home care. Judith Phillips and Waterson Jan are the principle researchers in this study. The aim of this research was to examine the duties of social specialist in elderly homecare after England and Wales enacted NHS and Community Care Act of 1990. The researchers felt that duties of social workers in nursing homes for aging had not received enough attention from researchers. The research perceives that there is inadequate literature that relates the responsibilities social care givers in relation to their clients (Phillips & Waterson, 2002: 171). This study reveals that the roles of social workers in the elderly health care lack proper definition and management. The value of social dimension, which had been crucial in hospital social work, has deteriorated substantially. According to the results of the study, there are few social specialists in nursing homes for the elderly. This has led to failure to share and perform daily work tasks in these nursing homes. The few social specialists cannot handle overwhelming requests for assistance of individuals in the old age. The research also points out that some social special lack skills and competences to conduct their duties. According to the study, this is the major cause of slow response to requests of their clients. However, the study establishes that there are social specialists who have the prowess to deal with matter bedevilling elderly people in nursing homes (Phillips & Waterson, 2002: 177). A third study in Journal of Nursing Management, examines the obligations of support workers in nursing homes. This is a case study in England by Julie Baldwin and her colleagues. The objectives of the study were to looks critically at the roles, which social specialist play in the nursing home sector. The research explores literatures that cover the subject matter between 1989 and 2002. This is because United Kingdom passed National Health Service and Community Care Act during this period. According to the study, the passing of the two acts resulted to a massive growth in the nursing homes for the aging people (Baldwin et al, 2003:410). The findings of the study reveal that there are few researches that look at the role of social workers in the nursing homes for the elderly. According to this study, there are limited social specialists in the elderly homecare facilities. Majority of social workers concentrate on the ailing patients neglecting the aged population in the nursing homes. The results also portrays that there is no clear definition of the roles of support workers in the nursing homes. According to the findings of this study, social workers feel that their roles are not different from those of registered nurses. The research points out that there is no prior preparation and management of social specialists before they enter into the elderly homecare (Baldwin et al, 2003:416). Social Service in the Field of Health Care of the Elderly According to a study in Journal of American Medical Association, homecare or nursing homes for the elderly are very vital. This is because there is likelihood of old people to have inappropriate medication when left alone. According to this peer-reviewed journal, epidemiological surveys indicate that elderly population is at high risk of misusing drugs. The article supposes that homecare for elderly is one of the strategies, which many countries use to manage health risks in the aging population. The study reveals that incorrect medication in elderly sick people is an issue of interest to health sector. The study points out that homecare for the elderly allow them to get personalised health care, which suit each patient. The elderly patients get the right medical attention under direction of competent physician (Fialova et al, 2005:1348). Services, which home care services offer comprise of nursing care, occupational, physical, and speech language therapy. Home care welfare aims at improving the health care of elderly and promotes the client’s optimal level of well-being. This aids the patients to remain at their residential places thereby evading admission or hospitalisation in long-term care institutions. In most cases, physicians refer or family members request for referral of their elderly care patients to nursing homes. Government of United Kingdom subsidises the services that the homecare for the offers. In addition, the government encourages personal independence of aging population in their homes through its heavy investment in elderly home care. The government of United Kingdom expresses its fears that under funding in state welfare may jeopardise its efforts to care for the elderly (Fialova et al, 2005:1355). Skills for the Social Specialist to Deal with Elderly A report of case study of Sweden, Spain, and England in February 2004 reveals that social specialist requires certain skills in order to deal with elderly people. The report indicates that social workers in the three countries possess strong knowledge base in order to provide to provide sound care for the aging population. The report points out that before 1964 these countries employed life experiences rather than academic qualification is enough for an individual to work in nursing homes. According to this report, Sweden accepted those people without academic qualification in its social workforce, which cared for the elderly. However, academic qualifications were mandatory for other professions in Sweden. The study also portrays that England most of social workers in elderly homecare lacked academic qualification. However, things have begun to change. For example, England is opting for the social workers to get training on competence. Sweden is also changing from personal experience it previously used and its embracing academic qualification. Since 1964, Sweden has raised the educational level of social workers in elderly homecare and provides educational programs for the social specialists (Johansson, 2004:72-73). England employs National Vocational Qualifications to rationalise vocational education into one progressive framework. This move aims to provide guarantee of competence to perform work in line with agreed occupational standards. According to this report, there are three hierarchies of training among social workers for elderly population. These comprise of non-qualified, occupational, and professional training. Non-qualified and occupational training encompass home assistants and workers for residential care respectively. Professional training captures nursing care assistants and technicians in socio-sanitary care (Johansson, 2004:74). Bibliography Baldwin, J., et al 2003. The role of the support worker in nursing homes: a consideration of key issues, Journal of Nursing Management, 11(6). Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2834.2003.00414.x/abstract?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage= [Accessed 03 June 2012]. Fialova, D., et al 2005. Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use Among Elderly Home Care Patients in Europe, Journal of American Medical Association, 293(11). Available from: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?volume=293&issue=11&page=1348 [Accessed 03 June 2012] Johansson, S. 2004. Work with elderly people: A Case Study of Sweden, Spain and England. Available from: http://tcru.ioe.ac.uk/reports/WP9%20final%20consolidated%20report%20for%20web%20feb04.pdf [Accessed 03 June 2012]. Manthorpe, J., et al 2008. There Are Wonderful Social Workers but it’s a Lottery’: Older People’s Views about Social Workers, British Journal of Social Work, 38. Available from: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/38/6/1132.full.pdf+html [Accessed 03 June 2012] Phillips, J. & Waterson, J. 2002. Care management and social work: A case study of the role of social work in hospital discharge to residential or nursing home care, European Journal of Social Work, 5(2). Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/714890030 [Accessed 03 June 2012]. Read More