Youngsters’ Perspectives on Continuity in Their Contacts with Youth-Care Services

Abstract Continuity is seen as an important aim for the quality of youth-care services. However, views on continuity are predominantly guided by experts, without much attention to user perspectives. This paper focuses on youngsters’ experienced continuity in relation to youth-care services. Twenty-five youngsters, who were in residential care or reached by low-threshold youth services, were interviewed about their experiences in and out of care. In thematically exploring the biographical narratives for important experiences of continuity, three major themes emerged: (i) the need for footholds in moments of existential chaos, (ii) the importance of timing of interventions to match the youngsters’ perspectives and (iii) the importance of the youngsters’ impact on their own care pathways. This study shows the need for support that is imbedded in a relational network within the context of youngsters in vulnerable situations. Rethinking youth services towards a better connection with these contexts is essential. Furthermore, the amount of control youngsters experience in their care interventions seems to be beneficial to the experience of continuity. It is argued that continuity should be seen as a process, in order to leave more space for negotiation and flexibility throughout the youngsters’ experiences in youth-care services.

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- Perceptions regarding the quality of life among beneficiaries of home and residential care services

Journal of Economic Development Environment and People ◽

10.26458/jedep.v9i1.658 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 71-78

Author(s):

Mihaela Ghenţa ◽

◽

Aniela Matei ◽

Luise Mladen-MacoveI ◽

Elen-Silvana Bobârnat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Residential Care ◽

Care Services

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Care pathways for people with intellectual disabilities who present with behaviours that challenge

Tizard Learning Disability Review ◽

10.1108/tldr-07-2020-0016 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 99-107

Author(s):

Ashok Roy ◽

Peter Baker ◽

Sue Carmichael

Keyword(s):

Intellectual Disabilities ◽

Time Frame ◽

Care Pathways ◽

Content Type ◽

Need For Support ◽

People With Intellectual Disabilities ◽

The Right ◽

Programme Of Care ◽

Right Order

Purpose Care pathways are being increasingly used in the national health service to outline an anticipated programme of care in relation to a particular illness, condition or set of symptoms. The purpose of this paper is to inform those using the service of what they might expect within what time frame. They are designed to reduce variation in practice and allow optimal quality of care across a variety of care settings. Care pathways map out a patient’s journey, providing coordination of services for users. They aim to have: “the right people, doing the right things, in the right order, at the right time, in the right place, with the right outcome”. Design/methodology/approach This paper outlines care pathways in relation to people with intellectual disabilities who present with behaviour that challenges. Findings It is likely that many people will have a lifelong need for support, so discharge from clinical services should only be considered if it is genuinely appropriate. Reductions in a person’s behaviours that challenge are likely to be a consequence of changes that have been made to the person’s environment and supports. Therefore, any reductions in the level or type of support that the person receives may lead to an escalation of the behaviour again. Originality/value Standards in relation to care pathways are presented.

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Respecting privacy in care services

The Journal of Adult Protection ◽

10.1108/jap-06-2019-0020 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (6) ◽

pp. 276-284

Author(s):

Peter Bates ◽

Brendan McLoughlin

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Human Rights ◽

Residential Care ◽

Data Privacy ◽

Human Services ◽

Right To Privacy ◽

Human Right ◽

Content Type ◽

Care Services

Purpose In care homes concerns about abuse have established a culture where all information pertaining to a person must be shared, and little attention is paid to privacy in its broader sense. The purpose of this paper is to take a human rights perspective and consider how information governance may impact on the health, well-being and quality of life of residents. It proposes a proactive approach and presents a template for a privacy impact assessment which services could use to improve their approach to privacy, protecting the human rights of those in their care, contributing to their independence and improving outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A review of historical and current thinking about the value of privacy in human services and wider society leads to a series of challenges to the way in which privacy is upheld in residential care services. Findings Recent preoccupations with data privacy have led to a myopic neglect of broader considerations of privacy. Whilst it continues to be important to protect the confidentiality of personal data and to ensure that residents are protected from abuse, human services that provide 24 hour care in congregated settings must not neglect broader components of privacy. Research limitations/implications Privacy impact assessments have been widely used to check whether data privacy is being upheld. The broader concept that might be termed “Big Privacy” is introduced within which data privacy is but one section. It is suggested that big privacy is severely compromised in residential care settings, thus denying residents their human right to privacy. The extent of such violation of rights should be investigated. Practical implications Having set out the potential reach of the human right to privacy, important work needs to be done to find out how privacy might be upheld in the real world of congregate residential care. Some service providers may have solutions to the organisational challenges, have addressed staff training needs and revised risk assessment strategies so that privacy is upheld alongside other rights. Social implications Nearly half a million people live in congregate residential care settings in England, and deprivation of privacy is argued to be a significant deprivation of human rights. Occasional tragedies and scandals in congregate settings create pressure for increasing the level of surveillance, and the right to privacy is sacrificed. This paper offers a challenge to this process, arguing that competing rights need to be balanced and privacy is an essential component of a decent quality of life. Originality/value Personal growth and development depends to some extent on choice and control over access to privacy. Recent changes in the law regarding data protection have narrowed our thinking about privacy until it is a small concept, largely concerned with data handling. This paper invites consideration of big privacy, and invites congregate residential care settings to consider how a deep and broad definition of privacy could transform these services.

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Care-home providers as professionals: understanding the motivations of care-home providers in England

Ageing and Society ◽

10.1017/s0144686x06005290 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 103-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

TIHANA MATOSEVIC ◽

MARTIN KNAPP ◽

JEREMY KENDALL ◽

CATHERINE HENDERSON ◽

JOSÉ-LUIS FERNANDEZ

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Older People ◽

Residential Care ◽

Care Home ◽

Care Services ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Professional Needs ◽

Intrinsic Motivations ◽

Professional Aspirations

The financial and social climate in which the residential-care sector operates in the United Kingdom has changed substantially over recent years. This paper examines the underlying motivations for providing residential-care services for older people. We focus on the motivations of a sample of managers and owners of care homes drawn from eight English local authorities, and explore the intrinsic aspects of their motivations, particularly professional achievement, recognition and job satisfaction. The majority of the respondents' primary motivations were to meet the needs of older people and to accomplish professional achievements. Their caring motivations had four principal components, which were labelled professional, financial, client-specific and client-generic, and as for their professional motivations, the interviewees reported high levels of job satisfaction. The respondents were satisfied with their career choice and felt that, through their work, they were contributing to society. The study identified several personal and external factors that influenced the providers' intrinsic motivations and professional aspirations. The presented evidence suggests that if future policies are to improve the quality of care-home services, it is essential that they also incorporate the professional needs of care-home providers.

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