This essay will present a critical analysis on the evolution of social policy and social work for care of older adults in Britain.

Authors Avatar by thelmazah (student)

critically evaluate how social policy and the role of social work developed over time in relation to older adults.

This essay will present a critical analysis on the evolution of social policy and social work for care of older adults in Britain. It begins by defining social policy and how its advancement from Poor Law to Coalition period utilising theories such as the Citizenship Approach and Keynesian ideology to explain the strengths and weaknesses of some of the policies. At some points reference will be made to older adults who are marginalised by policies, for instance, ethnic minorities.

Social policy is a dynamic interdisciplinary and applied science that looks at ways in which societies cater for the social needs of their members through systems of distribution, regulation, provision and empowerment (Bochel et al, 2009). The ways the needs of older people were met through history, are a strong determinant of the present culture of care for older people. Economic and social policy in Britain was influenced by the developments in the USA, during the early years of the Thatcher government, (Adams, 2002).  

 poor law and Edwardian Era  

the pinnacle of the discussions concerning the care and welfare older people was evidenced by the introduction of the Old Age Pension Act 1908 (Gladstone, 1999). There was an escalation in life expectancy and this led to the clear visibility of the poverty that was coupled with old age. Alternatively, financial support came from the Poor Law, which most old people relied on increasingly in their final years. Friendly Societies and private charity acted as an incipient old-age pension (Gladstone, 1999, p15). The Poor Law placed care on the community and specifically parish. Being in a parish was not from free-will but forcibly because of poverty. Many older people relived traumatic experiences being institutionalised in hospitals, nursing and residential care homes which used to be workhouses (Higginbotham, 2007).

The Old Age Pension Act was introduced to eradicate traumatic shadows of workhouses. Pensions were means-tested and prevented older people aged from seeking refuge in workhouses. The Act formed the foundations of the modern social welfare reforms of the Liberal government who advocated freedom, arguing that older service users had to be free from state interference. Germany had introduced pensions in the 1880s but this German model had been rejected in Britain in the 1890s (Adams, 2002). The government was more worried about the financial implications rather than the effect it would have in helping the elderly that were unable to work for themselves. (history4all.wikispace.com). Beveridge highlighted that the old age population would increase due to changing factors resulting in more pensioners, but fewer working age people to sustain them. (Tanner, 2007)

POST WW2 AND THATCHERISM 

The end of the Second World War saw a surge in welfare services moving from a residual approach to one where everyone was entitled to services on the basis of need. In relation to the Beveridge Report of 1942, the National Health Service (NHS) was brought into existence in July 1948 responding to two of elements of the Beveridge Report, illness and disease (Johns, 2011 p36). Successive governments became more sympathetic towards shifting the balance of personal social services from residential care to community care. The publication of Care in Action put community care high on the government’s priorities. Mid-1980s saw increased advocacy on the displacement of inappropriate residential care, reducing segregation and stigmatisation of older people in institutions. Thatcherism turned away from state-residential and day-care services. The available funding from the government encouraged older individuals to go into residential care. This left the service users with a dilemma on what would be best for their needs, as living at home meant they might not be eligible for state assistance. Changes in social security arrangements coincided with local authority home care services, meaning they could claim social security subsidies once they were in care.

Join now!

NEW RIGHT

The 1980s saw the development of New Right approaches. These prioritised reducing and controlling public expenditure by moving services from the state to the private sector. Community care policy highlighted that severe measures taken in achieving equality hindered personal freedom, showing inequality in a diverse and imbalanced society was impossible. Community Care policy stressed on free market encouraging marketization led by local authorities (Johns, 2011). Making a Reality of Community Care, 1986 by the Audit Commission condemned the slow implementation of community care resulting in the Griffith’s report which made a proposal for a care economy were care ...

This is a preview of the whole essay