Introduction to Community Care

This document provides an introduction to community care, explaining its definition and importance. It discusses the National Health Service and Community Care Act, 1990, and the policy framework for protecting vulnerable adults. The role of care managers in providing personalized care plans and ensuring quality services is also explored.

Introduction to
Community Care

Contents
Title: Funding matters, of course it does, but the thing people really care about is the quality of the
care that they receive.” Matt Hannock, the Health and Social Care Secretary....................................3
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................7

Title: Funding matters, of course it does, but the thing people really care about is the
quality of the care that they receive.” Matt Hannock, the Health and Social Care Secretary
“What is quality? How do you define it, how do you measure it and, most importantly, how
do you provide it?”
INTRODUCTION
Community care can be defined as long-term care for the people who are either elderly,
mentally ill or disable. The care services are not provided in hospitals or institutions, but within
the community itself. Community services are important as they help in keeping the people
healthy, treating as well as managing both long-term conditions and illness (Baldwin, 2017). The
quality in community care can be referred to as the extent to which the healthcare services
provided to patients as well as individuals improve the desired health outcomes. The report
includes an explanation of developments that have led to the creation of NHS and Community
Care Act, 1990, a key legislation in community care. Apart from this, the report also includes an
explanation of the policy framework for protecting vulnerable adults.
MAIN BODY
Quality plays a major role in community health as it ensures that people living within a
community receive the best healthcare services so that they are well and live their lives as they
want. The National Health Service and Community Care Act was established in the year 1990.
The Act introduced requirement for the local authorities to help adults who were vulnerable,
remain within the community and prevent their admission to the hospitals or any other
institution. There are various developments that have led to the creation of NHS and Community
Care Act, 1990. Under this Act, any adult who is aged either 18 or above and lives in the United
Kingdom, is eligible for receiving services from the Local Authority (Burton-Jones and Volkoff,
2017). The Act states that the local authorities have the duty of assessing people for support as
well as social care who are in need of the community care. The Act also ensures that the people
within the community receive appropriate services.
The National Health Service and Community Care Act is mainly focused on helping the
vulnerable and old adults. The care givers remain in the community with the older people and
ensure that they receive the best services. Apart from this, there is another legislation, which is

The Care Act 2014 encourages the caregivers to take an approach which is person-centered while
ensuring that vulnerable adults are safe. The respective act was brought as a change to the
previous legislation. There are six principles that are included in the Act which are explained
below –
Empowerment – This principle encourages the caregivers to support the vulnerable
people so that they can make their own decisions and give consent regarding their care
confidently (Davies and Challis, 2018). In order to empower vulnerable adults effectively, the
provisions that they might need to reach their decisions should be assessed.
Protection – In order to fulfil this principle, it is important for the caregivers to support
as well as represent people who are in most need. They must aim to provide clear and simple
information that can be understood easily by the service users.
Prevention – To follow the principle of prevention, the caregivers must be proactive to
safeguard any concerns (What are the 6 Principles of the Care Act 2014?, 2019). This is one of
the most important principles of care.
Proportionality – It refers to making sure that various preventative measures are utilized
in order to safeguard the vulnerable adults. In order to make the safeguarding processes
proportionate, vulnerable adults should be involved in making decisions.
Partnership – Partnerships can be made with the local communities as well as services
in order to prevent, detect as well as report any suspected cases of abuse as well as neglect.
Accountability – The vulnerable individuals as well as their nominated persons should
kept informed about any decisions that the care givers make (Harcourt and et.al., 2018). For
example, in context to the given scenario, both Mr. P as well as his grand-daughter should be
kept up to date about any changes in the care being given to him.
A Care Manager plays a vital role in providing care to the vulnerable adults within a
community. They are responsible for all aspects of the different activities within the care setting
which include recruiting, managing the staff teams, budgets and ensuring that the service users
receive high quality services. A care manager also assesses the needs of the patient’s and creates
personalized plans based on the same. They also act as supervisors at nursing homes in order to

make sure that the care givers are not confused about their roles as well as responsibilities. They
usually work within a social care setting within a community. This can include care homes, local
authorities or supported living flats. The principal role of the Care Manager in a social care
setting is to work as a health care provider who works with the patients directly. When the
patients are admitted, the care manager is responsible for communicating with them and
understanding as well as assessing their individual needs. Once this is done, they consult with the
health professionals to decide on the services that are best suited for the patient. They play an
important role and communicate individual care plans that are developed keeping in mind their
health conditions.
As mentioned, quality plays a major role when it comes to community care and the care
manager along with other care givers is responsible for making sure that vulnerable adults
receive the best services that are based on their individual care needs. A care plan can be defined
as a written statement of the individual assessed needs of the patients that are identified during a
Community Care Assessment (van Iersel and et.al., 2018). The plan sets out the support that the
vulnerable older people should get along with other necessary details like the person who is
meant to provide it. There are four different stages of a care plan that are explained below –
Patient Assessment – This is the first stage of the care plan wherein an assessment of the
patient is done. The care giver communicates with the service user in order to understand their
routine, interests, their values, beliefs and hobbies. Apart from this, physical and mental
assessments of the patient are also conducted.
Planning with the patient – In the second stage, the care manager along with other care
givers communicate with the patient as well as their nominated person about how can the patient
achieve their goals and what interventions are going to help, who all will be involved in the care
giving as well as their responsibilities (Wilberforce and et.al., 2017). Funding plays a major role
during this stage.
Implement – This is the third stage wherein the action plan is implemented in
collaboration with the patient. This can include a COPD plan or an exercise plan. if there is any
requirement, the services as well as supports are referred to.

Monitor and Review – This is the fourth stage and involves the care manager as well as
the care givers to be in regular contact with both the patient as well as their nominated person.
The care plan is reviewed regularly in order to assess if the planned goals and objectives are
being met. Feedback is provided to the general practitioner as well as the wider team about the
progress in the patient’s condition.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that vulnerable adults within a community are
at the most risk of developing serious health problems. Therefore, it is important to develop
strategies and adopt legislations to provide them with the best services. A care manager plays a
vital role in community care and communicates with the patients as well as their nominated
person on a regular basis about the patients’ care plan as well as their progress. A care plan helps
in making sure that the patients recover quickly and are able to make confident decisions about
themselves.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Baldwin, M., 2017. Care Management and Community Care: Social Work Discretion and the
Construction of Policy: Social Work Discretion and the Construction of Policy.
Routledge.
Burton-Jones, A. and Volkoff, O., 2017. How can we develop contextualized theories of
effective use? A demonstration in the context of community-care electronic health
records. Information Systems Research. 28(3). pp.468-489.
Davies, B. and Challis, D., 2018. Matching resources to needs in community care: An evaluated
demonstration of a long-term care model. Routledge.
Harcourt, D. and et.al., 2018. Working Together to Connect Care: a metropolitan tertiary
emergency department and community care program. Australian health review. 42(2).
pp.189-195.
van Iersel, M. and et.al., 2018. Perceptions of community care and placement preferences in
first-year nursing students: a multicentre, cross-sectional study. Nurse Education Today.
60. pp.92-97.
Wilberforce, M. and et.al., 2017. Person‐centredness in the community care of older people: A
literature‐based concept synthesis. International Journal of Social Welfare. 26(1). pp.86-
98.
Online
What are the 6 Principles of the Care Act 2014?. 2019. [Online]. Available through:<
https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/principles-of-the-care-act-2014/>.