Risk management

Patients with chronic illness often require ongoing support postdischarge. This study evaluated a simple-to-use, mobile health-based program designed to improve postdischarge follow-up via (1) tailored communication to patients using automated calls, (2) structured feedback to informal caregivers, and (3) automated alerts to clinicians about urgent problems.

Background: Involving carers is a key priority in mental health services. Carers report the sharing of service users’ safety information by mental health nurses is problematic and seldom takes place. Aims: The impact of an intervention on consensus between nurses and carers on perceptions of risk was investigated. Methods: Carer–nurse risk consensus scores were measured pre- and post-introduction of a structured dialogue (paired t-test/ANOVA).

This paper updates an earlier extensive review of research into the incidence and management of risk in adult social care in England, and addresses gaps identified in the earlier review. This paper aimed to identify only empirical research published since 2007 and concentrated on research conducted and published within the UK.

This paper presents the finding of an exploratory study examining the risk management strategies of informal carers of mental health service users. Thirteen carers from two cities were interviewed in depth using a semi-structured interview schedule. Participants had been informal carers between four and 20 years and supported users with formal diagnoses of schizophrenia, manic depression and depression. A grounded theory approach was followed to collect and examine data and to test the resulting models of risk management.

Risk is a central defining feature and area of concern in adult social care provision, but what do we actually know about how service users, carers and practitioners define and manage risk? This question is increasingly important as current policy advocates greater service user choice and control through a range of self-directed support mechanisms, and statutory duties and professional boundaries are challenged.

In this article, we compare accounts given by young carers and specialist support workers about the riskiness of becoming a carer relatively early in life. We argue that since the mid-1990s, the policy response has problematised the comparatively early adoption of a caring role as a risk factor for future personal development. This temporal issue has become societally organised around concern about NEETs (young adults not in education, employment or training).

The present paper examines the importance of risk when supporting individuals with learning disabilities. It uses data from a small research project designed to examine the perceptions of risk held by users, carers and professionals, as well as the risk policies of agencies. Risk is an important issue in the provision of support. The service users in the present study saw risk primarily in terms of hazards. The carers were concerned about hazards and harm, but recognized the need for risk-taking. The professionals emphasized the importance of reasonable risk-taking.