Community Care for Older People in England: Challenges and Developments

This report discusses the challenges and developments in community care for older people in England. It covers the policies and acts introduced by the government, challenges faced by community care organizations, and suggestions to overcome them. The report emphasizes the importance of providing effective care to the older people of the country.

Care of Older People

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Development in the policy of community care............................................................................3
Challenges in the community care...............................................................................................5
Suggestions to overcome the challenges......................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Community care services are formed in order to help the people who require support and
care for living with dignity in the country. These services are helpful in order to reduce the social
isolation which is harmful for the mental health of many individuals. England is one of the most
developed countries in the world that provides the best care to the older people in the country so
that there can be effective and healthy living among the older people. The country tries its best
for achieving the effective and better success rate in providing the better community care to the
citizens so that the people of the country are in the positive opinion about the country that they
are being taken care by the country in which they live (Frost, and et.al., 2020).
There are various types of provision for the care that is required to be provided to the
older people of the country. There are more than 800000 people in England who are gaining the
community care services (Key facts and figures about adult social care, 2022). The report will
explain about the various challenges that creates problem in effective community care. The aim
of the report is to analyse and understand the various aspects of the community care for the older
people in England.
MAIN BODY
Development in the policy of community care
Community care services were started in England in December 1960 by the government
of Margaret Thatcher. The community care in the England is one of the most developed and
effective care that has been provided to the people of the country as there are the various types of
policies that the government of the country introduces which can help in providing the effective
care to the older people of the England. There has been the various types of development that
changed the situation and effectiveness of the community care that is being provided to the older
people of the country (Kotpratum and Nuntaboot, 2018).
There was the various types of problems that the country faced before and during the
implementation of the policies which has resulted into the ineffective providing of the
community care to the older people of the country. The community care has evolved over period
it was established with a view to provide better aid to the elderly and improve their living
conditions at their home. It was beneficial for them to gain these services in order to improve
their mental and physical health. The community care services focused on the financial needs of
these people only. In the recent times this policy has transformed and is helping the people to

improve their dignity while living in the country. It helps to stay independent and life a life
according to their wishes. There has been the various types of changes and amendments that was
done by the government of the England which has resulted into the better and effective
development of the community care that has been provided to the older people of the country.
Community Care Act, 1990
This act has been introduced with a view that it can provide the effective care to the older
people so that there can be reduction in the delay in the admission whenever there is an
emergency. The act helped in the effective development of the community care that is being
provided to the older people in the England. The act operates with the help of the NHS which
operates for providing the better and effective health to the people of the country (Bauld and
et.al., 2018). This act helped in the development of the care that has been provided to the older
people by providing them with the better and effective solutions of taking admissions in the
health care institutes. This act provided the various types of benefits to the older people by
providing ease in reaching the health care institutions and taking admission in it when they face
any medical condition that requires care.
Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996
In the 1996 this act was introduced and it came into the full force on 1 April 1997 which
provided the various types of benefits to the older people. This act helped in the development of
the payment process which was necessary so that the people who were in the need of community
care can be provided with effective care. This act helped the local authorities and provided them
with the power which allows them to make the direct payments to the older people who are in the
need of the community care (Landeiro and et.al., 2019). The act helped in the development of the
older people as they were able to directly take help and payment from the local authorities
without keeping any other party or authority between them. This helped in the effective and
better process of providing the community care to the older people of England.
Community Care (Delayed Discharges) Act, 2003
This act was introduced with a view that this will be able to develop the effective
discharge process that is being followed by the health care institutions. This act obligates the
local authorities to make the payment of all the expenses that has been occurred in the process of
treating the old aged NHS patient because the discharge has been delayed because of the local
authorities (Netten and Beecham, 2018). This act developed the effective community care that

has been provided to the older people in the health care institution and ease up the burden of
payment of the expenses that has been occurred due to the delay in the discharge of the NHS
service patient. The older people were provided with the better and effective treatment as the
expenses were being paid by the authority who is responsible for delaying the discharge of the
old aged patient.
The Care Act, 2014
This act was introduced with a view of providing the adults of the England with the
effective and better living by safe guarding their personal dignity and having the control on their
life. The act was introduced in 2014 and came into the full force on 6 April 2015. This act
provided the older adults with the effective opportunities and support of physical and emotional
well-being (Challis and et.al., 2018). This act obligated the local authorities to set up a
Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) in the various areas and give them a proper description and
responsibilities of safeguarding the people and their dignity. The act was introduced so that there
can be effective protection that can be provided to the people which can help in reducing the risk
of abuse and neglect. This act developed the community care that was being provided to the
older adults of England by keeping their dignity safe and providing the protection from any risk
and provide the effective and better living so that they can have a healthy and safe life.
Challenges in the community care
There are the various challenges that can be seen in the community care. The challenges
create the various types of issues that result into the ineffective care that is being provided to the
old aged people of the England (Denham, 2018). The challenges are being faced by the old aged
people which is the limitation of the community care which is required to be provided to the
older adults so that they can have the better and effective living.
Financial insecurity
One of the main challenges that can be seen in the community care is that the care can not
be provided effectively if there is the various types of issues and challenges that relates to the
financial stability and support (Gant and Bates, 2019). There are many community care
organizations that are unable to provide the effective and better care to the old aged people as
they are lacking in the financial terms which restricts them in making any expense on the care
that is required to be provided to the old aged people which can result into making the situation
even worse.

Variability in quality and performance
There is a problem that can be seen in the community care which is that there is always
the difference in the quality and performance that can result into the reduced effectiveness in
providing the better and effective care to the old aged people. The performance of the
community care changes whenever the services is being provided to the older adults. This is
because there is always the ineffectiveness in providing the better and effective care to all the
older adults (Knapp and et.al., 2018). The challenge is faced by the community care as it is not
easy to provide the same performance and quality of work every time.
Lack of clear plan for work
This is one of the major challenge that is being faced by the community care as it is
necessary to have the effective and clear plan that can help in achieving the better and effective
performance in the day to day operations of the community care. The lack of a clear plan results
into the reduced efficiency in providing the effective care to the old aged people. This is a result
of ineffective planning and not focusing on the various aspects of the situation and the people
which is in the need of the effective and better community care.
Issues in finding proper care provisions
There is always the issues of not able to finding the proper care provisions that can suit
the old aged people. This is necessary to understand that there are the various types of problems
and issues that is being faced by the old aged people and requires the proper and effective care
by the community care. This can result into the ineffectiveness in providing the better and
effective care that can suit the old aged people as every person can not be treated with the same
health provision which has been created for a specific community or group of people.
Access to the health care institutions
This is a challenge that is faced by the old aged people as there is not always the
effectiveness in accessing the health care institute so that they can be provided with effective and
better care (Wenger, 2021). This is the issue that creates the problem and restricts the community
care in providing the better and effective care to the old aged people who are in the need of better
and effective treatment and care.

Suggestions to overcome the challenges
There can be the various suggestions that can be given so that the challenges can be faced
and solved. These suggestions are effective in providing the better and effective solutions for the
challenges. The challenges are based on the above challenges which is required to be faced and
resolved so that there can be better and effective care provided to the old aged people. Raising funds- It is necessary to raise funds so that there can be effectiveness in
providing the better and effective care to the old aged people. The funds can be raised
from local government and Federal government departments or agencies. It can help in
reducing the financial insecurity of the community care institutions and provide better
services to the needy. Maintaining the quality- This is necessary to maintain the work quality so that the same
quality of work can be provided every time. This can help in solving the problem of
variability in the quality of work. This can be done by setting clear goals and effective
time management. Creation of strategic plan- This is necessary to create a strategic plan so that the work
can be done effectively. This can provide the clear path and strategies that can help in
effectively performing the tasks. With the help of a clear plan the community care
organizations can reduce the negative impact of several barriers upon them and improve
their current strategies. Creation of various care provisions- The creation of different care provisions should be
implemented as it can provide the effectiveness in providing the better care to old aged
people so that the suitable provision can help the person in need. These provisions may
help in improving the current state of the elderly people and solve their issues.
 Ease of commutation- The ease of commutation should be implemented so that the old
aged people are being provided with better and effective care. This can be done by
opening the various camps of community care in the different areas so that the old aged
people can reach the nearest health care institution. It can be useful for the needy people
to get access to healthcare effectively.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it can be concluded that the community care is one of the effective care that can be
provided to the old aged people of England. This is necessary to be provided so that the old aged

people can have a better and healthy life and live without facing any problem that is related to
their health. The various developments of the community care in the England has been done by
the implementation of the various acts such as the Community Care Act, 1990 and the
Community Care (Delayed Discharges) Act, 2003. There are the various challenges that can be
seen in the community care in England which is that the lack of clear plan for work and issues in
finding proper care provisions. The challenges can be faced with the help of various suggestions
such as creating a strategic plan and by creating the various care provisions.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bauld, L. and et.al., 2018. Caring for older people: an assessment of community care in the
1990s. Routledge.
Challis, D. and et.al., 2018. Care management in social and primary health care: the Gateshead
Community Care Scheme. Routledge.
Denham, A.C., 2018. Community care alternatives for older adults. In Chronic illness care (pp.
259-270). Springer, Cham.
Frost, R. and et.al., 2020. What works in managing complex conditions in older people in
primary and community care? A state‐of‐the‐art review. Health & Social Care in the
Community. 28(6). pp.1915-1927.
Gant, V. and Bates, C., 2019. ‘Cautiously optimistic’: Older parent-carers of adults with
intellectual disabilities–Responses to the Care Act 2014. Journal of Intellectual
Disabilities. 23(3). pp.432-445.
Knapp, M. and et.al., 2018. Care in the community: Challenge and demonstration. Routledge.
Kotpratum, K. and Nuntaboot, K., 2018. COMMUNITY CONTINUING CARE FOR OLDER
PEOPLE: ETHNOGRAPHY RESEARCH. Suranaree Journal of Science &
Technology. 25(3).
Landeiro, F. and et.al., 2019. Delayed hospital discharges of older patients: a systematic review
on prevalence and costs. The Gerontologist. 59(2). pp.e86-e97.
Netten, A. and Beecham, J., 2018. Costing community care: theory and practice. Routledge.
Wenger, G.C., 2021. The supportive network: Coping with old age. Routledge.
Online
Key facts and figures about adult social care. 2022. [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/key-facts-figures-adult-social-care>