Tag Archives: SERVICES

Dementia’s impact on those who care

Posted on by

Old man

By Alan Gillies

Recent research has suggested that the rate of growth in the prevalence of dementia may be levelling out as the general health of the population increases. While such findings are encouraging, commentators have pointed out that increasing rates of obesity and diabetes, as well as the fact that people are living longer, means they have to be treated with caution.

Whether we face a continuing increase, a stabilisation or a decline in dementia, for those who are affected it will continue to have a devastating impact. And this includes not just the person with dementia, but also their loved ones and those who care for them.

A recent enquiry to our Ask a Researcher service asked for our help on this very question. As a social worker needing to understand the broader impacts of the disease on the family in order to be to provide appropriate help and support, the enquirer came to us looking for the available research evidence on the impacts of dementia on those caring for them. Our researcher was able to provide a comprehensive roundup of the current literature, highlighting the variety of issues facing carers of those with dementia.

Carers’ working lives

Not all the issues covered were ones that might be immediately obvious, like the practicalities of caring and the emotional impact of seeing a loved one affected. For example, one piece of research we were able to flag up examined the impact on carers’ working lives and workplace relationships.

Over half of respondents to a survey (53%) said that their work had been negatively affected due to their caring responsibilities. The survey highlighted the pressure on those in the prime of their working life, most often women, who are combining care for an older relative, often at a distance, with a range of other family responsibilities.

Minority ethnic carers

We also highlighted research on the way dementia can affect different sectors of the population. One recent study we identified, examined how the migration experiences and life histories of Sikhs living in Wolverhampton impacted on their experiences of caring for a family member with dementia and the barriers to accessing services.

It found that, rather than cultural differences, it was migrants’ experiences and perceptions of social exclusion, their perceived and actual social position as migrants, that affected the ways in which they accessed services.

Communicating with family members who have dementia

As well as drawing together a range of research on carers’ experiences and difficulties, we were able to include examples of initiatives, such as Talking Mats, which can help to improve the experience of caring for a loved one with dementia.

Talking Mats are a simple communication tool, developed at the University of Stirling, to help people with communication difficulties to express their views. It uses a simple system of picture symbols that allow people to indicate their feelings about various options relating to a topic.

Research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation looked at their use for people with dementia and their family carers. It found that, unexpectedly, although the people with dementia and the family carers both felt more involved in discussions using Talking Mats, the increased feeling of involvement was significantly higher for the carers. Carers repeatedly reported feeling ‘listened to’ by the person with dementia and felt that their loved one could actually ‘see’ their point of view. It found that many family carers said they often choose not to say something that is going to inflame a situation, so instead they say nothing at all. Whereas the Talking Mats tool allowed them time and space to have their say, and helped to organise and structure their conversation with the person with dementia for whom they cared.

Our response to the enquiry provided our member with a speedy and concise roundup of the currently available literature on the issues and difficulties facing those who provide vital care for people with dementia.

Our popular Ask a Researcher enquiry service is one aspect of the Idox Information Service, which we provide to members in organisations across the UK to keep them informed on the latest research and evidence on public and social policy issues. To find out more on how to become a member, get in touch.

Follow us on Twitter to see what developments in public and social policy are interesting our research team.

Digital transformation: rethinking the plumbing of government

Posted on by

Last summer, the Daily Telegraph reported on the Home Office decision to abandon its flagship immigration computer system. One respected IT contractor told the newspaper:

“I just don’t think the UK government should be allowed to buy IT at all. Maybe give them abacuses, but they could still get those wrong.”

Which might seem comical. But ditching one £350m system and commissioning another at taxpayers’ expense is no laughing matter. As Margaret Hodge, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee observed:

“Given its poor track record, I have little confidence that the further £209 million it is spending on another IT system will be money well spent.”

Unfortunately, the Home Office is not alone in its difficulties managing IT initiatives. And while private companies such as banks can encounter technological problems, public sector technology projects seem especially prone to failure. From the BBC to the NHS to the Department for Work and Pensions, publicly-funded organisations have acquired an unenviable reputation for implementing and managing IT.

According to the authors of a new book, Digitizing Government, the underlying challenge facing the public sector is to view digital transformation as being less about technology and more about organisational change. In short, they contend, it’s about “rethinking the very plumbing of government.”

In reviewing three decades of visions, strategies and initiatives, the authors attempt to understand why government has struggled to achieve technology-based public service transformation. The answer, they conclude, lies in “outdated management culture, processes, capabilities, an idiosyncratic procurement model and a supply chain that discouraged innovation and impeded competition.”

The book contrasts the closed, top-down, bureaucratic and paper-based approach of governments with commercial digital services that have emerged to provide an increasingly digitally-savvy public with fast, customised and personalised interactions.

The book’s authors go on to propose a “new normal” to remake public services for the digital age. Once again, they stress the importance of taking a broad view of digital transformation that requires: “…redesign and re-engineering on every level – people, process, technology and governance.”

Some of the proposed ideas take a common sense approach:

  • Use ‘lean thinking’ to move away from meetings, paperwork, discussions, bureaucratic rivalries, and towards more efficient and effective ways of delivering high-quality, timely relevant services to citizens and businesses.
  • Break down the silos separating services, such as policing, courts, the probation service and housing, to enable clustering of similar components together.
  • Bring in and cultivate the right skills.

Smart digital thinking applies not only to central government departments, but to local councils, our closest and most common interaction with government. According to the book’s authors, by adopting common ways of doing things – along the lines of Google, Apple and Toyota – local authorities, their residents, partners and suppliers would all benefit.

The book provides an example of this approach already being practised by the London borough of Hounslow. Rather than embedding new technology into old processes, the emphasis is on standardising processes, an approach that offers opportunities for process improvements and for information sharing across councils. Culture change is also at the heart of the support that Idox offers to the local authorities which buy its software and managed services – in areas such as online planning, environmental health and licensing – as efficiencies are unlikely to be achieved if existing processes are just replicated for an online world.

The authors acknowledge that the journey to digital transformation will not be easy, especially for organisations that are complex, use security concerns as barriers to agility, and have low levels of understanding of digital ethos.

But they make a strong case for digitising government, arguing that it offers the prospect of citizens benefiting from a more seamless approach to government services, and less wasteful administration and duplication of resources.

Members of the Idox Information Service benefit from access to a range of research and intelligence support, including a library of books on public sector policy and practice.

World Alzheimer’s Day: can we reduce dementia risk?

Posted on by
Older woman with Alzheimer's in a chair

Image courtesy of Flickr user Vince Alongi using a Creative Commons license

By Steven McGinty

On the 21st September, Alzheimer’s organisations across the world will be carrying out events to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and dementia. The event, a key part of World Alzheimer’s Month, was launched by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) in 1994, with the aim of highlighting the tremendous work carried out by Alzheimer’s organisations.

Each year, a new theme is selected for World Alzheimer’s Month, and this year the focus will be on how we can reduce the risks of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia. In support of this event, I’ve decided to look at some of the statistics on dementia, as well as review the latest evidence on reducing the risks.

Continue reading →

Are Local Authorities the saviour of the UK high street?

Posted on by

“High streets are the heart of towns and communities. They have been for centuries. People are passionate about high streets.” Mary Portas (2011)

As the quote from Mary Portas above suggests the British high street is something cherished by communities around the country. Built up over hundreds of years in towns and cities the country over they are a quintessentially British thing. Yet despite this fondness high streets have struggled to keep pace with the rapidly evolving economy of the 21st Century. They have been withered away by the enormous growth in online shopping and the near omnipresent out-of-town retail developments which are more accessible and free of many of the physical constraints of town centres. This is demonstrated through government statistics which show a clear decline in high street sales since the turn of the millennium. Continue reading →