Abstract
The Care Act 2014 provides for ‘parity of esteem’ between people with social care needs and carers. This is achieved by extending the principles of prevention and wellbeing to carers; reinforcing carers’ right to an assessment; and setting national eligibility criteria for access to carer support services. This article reports on research that examined the impact of these changes on older co-resident carers of older people in four English local authorities. Findings are described in relation to four key themes: organisational arrangements and rationale; the aims of carer support and preventative services; design and delivery of carer assessment; and barriers to assessment and support. The findings of the research suggest that, despite the new statutory requirements, underlying contradictions and tensions in local authorities’ relationship with carers, and efforts to support them, remain unresolved.
Highlights
This article reports on research completed in 2018 on the impact of Care Act implementation on older co-resident carers of older people in four English local authorities
Differences exist between carers in terms of the type and level of recognition and support services they receive, and there has been an apparent gap between the stated aims of policies and their impact
In Site 1 (Northern city) this was linked to the local authority’s own poor track record in undertaking carer assessments, combined with a perception that carers were less of a focus for the local authority than users of social care: So that was the decision that was made in [ : : : ]
Summary
This article reports on research completed in 2018 on the impact of Care Act implementation on older co-resident carers of older people in four English local authorities. In the English context family members or others who provide physical, practical or emotional support free of charge are defined in law and policy as carers. Differences exist between carers in terms of the type and level of recognition and support services they receive, and there has been an apparent gap between the stated aims of policies and their impact. IP address: 52.91.235.158, on 02 Nov 2021 at 15:24:58, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. The legislation and accompanying statutory guidance, and what it requires of local authorities, were leading concerns
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