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Physical disabilities

An investigation of carers' burden: before and after a total hip replacement

Osteoarthritis in the hip joint is a chronic degenerative condition, causing pain and disability. As the disease progresses, the individual's health deteriorates. This often results in one of the family members having to assume a carer role to assist the care receiver in personal and domestic activities of daily living. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether carers experienced stress from looking after individuals with osteoarthritis who were waiting for a total hip replacement.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:17

Dependence, independence or inter-dependence? Revisiting the concepts of 'care' and 'dependency'

Research and theory on ‘dependency’ and ‘care-giving’ have to date proceeded along largely separate lines, with little sense that they are exploring and explaining different aspects of the same phenomenon. Research on ‘care’, initially linked to feminism during the early 1980s, has revealed and exposed to public gaze what was hitherto assumed to be a ‘natural’ female activity. Conversely, disability activists and writers who have promoted a social model of disability have seen the language of and the policy focus upon ‘care’ as oppressive and objectifying.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:16

Personal assistance providers' mistreatment of disabled adults

This article describes a survey of 84 adults with disabilities who received personal assistance with activities of daily living from family members, informal providers, or agency personnel. Results showed that 30 percent reported mistreatment from their primary provider, and 61 percent reported mistreatment by another provider. Verbal abuse, physical abuse, and theft or extortion were the most common forms of mistreatment by primary providers. Verbal abuse, neglect, poor care, and theft were the most common forms of mistreatment by other providers.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:15

Longitudinal changes in the amount of informal care among publicly paid home care recipients

Purpose: This study examined how the amount of informal care received by disabled elders changes when they are receiving publicly paid home care, and whether formal service use, disability, caregiving arrangements, and demographic characteristics of older adults predict changes in the amount of informal care. Design and Methods: Hierarchical linear models were estimated, using 3-year data (12 repeated observations) collected from elderly participants (N = 888) in Michigan's Home- and Community-Based Medicaid Waiver Program. 

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:14

Policies at odds

Reports how a complaint about a refusal to re-house a carer nearer her mother uncovered a conflict between a council's policies on social services and housing.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:12

Giving carers the right to claim support

Looks at a government backed private member's bill which is seeking to extend the rights of carers.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:12

Top guidance for carers

Luke Clements is full of praise for the guidance accompanying the Carers and Disabled Children Act, which spells out, among other things, which carers are entitled to assessments and services.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:11

Direct payments: the information deficit

Direct payments can now be made to older people. But a 12-month research project has revealed that service users, carers and junior staff still have little knowledge of them. The authors of the Shield research team, Anglia Polytechnic University, and Tower Hamlets Coalition of Disabled People explain that service users are cautiously optimistic about what direct payments offer them but are anxious about the practicalities.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:11

Social problem-solving abilities and distress among family members assuming a caregiving role

We examined the relation of social problem-solving abilities to distress experienced by family members assuming a caregiving role for a loved one who had recently incurred a severe physical disability. Family members completed measures of problem-solving, depression and health, while their loved one participated in an inpatient rehabilitation programme. Correlational analyses indicated that a negative problem orientation was significantly predictive of caregiver distress, regardless of the degree of physical impairment of the care recipient.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:11

Fixing the system?: the experience of service users of the quasi-market in disability services in Australia

A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with 31 people with disabilities and 32 carers in the state of Queensland, Australia, found that their experience of supportive service delivery had not improved despite reforms of the service delivery system driven by a version of the quasi-market model. Instead of delivering increased consumer choice and improved efficiency in service delivery, users experienced inadequate service supply, service cutbacks and increased emphasis on cost subsidisation and assessment processes.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:10