Jen's AGAINST argument..

A tad bit long maybe but we can play around on tuesday...

ARGUMENT 3

Let us consider the real shift in Community Care. It is a shift away from Institutionalised Care..It is a shift towards the rights of Service Users to be treated in their..It is a shift towards Service Users having more choice, more rights and more say!
The 1990 NHS and Community Care Act clearly aims to decrease unnecessary institutionalization, increase the demand for non-statutory community care services, improve collaboration between the private and public service sectors. All of these aims are about the individual having choice.


I would like to take issue with the opposition’s basis for statistics about the population and health changes. I would like to point out that the population is not a static entity in the face of changing health trends. Culture, people and opinion evolve. Furthermore I would like to argue that societal attitudes and demographic changes are well supported by the Community Care Model. For instance, let us take your example of Mental Health. Social Inclusion is now currently high on the government’s agenda, as evidenced by the setting up of the Social Exclusion Unit in 2003. The Social Exclusion Report 2004, highlighted a realistic need for people with enduring mental health conditions to play an active and ‘normal’ part in society. My point, ladies and gentlemen, is that such a fundamental societal expectation and human right as Social Inclusion can not be accommodated through institutionalised care.

Community Care should be celebrated not just for mental health reform but as a way of delivering individualised-tailored care to the masses. In the forward of Caring For People: Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond 1989 it states the intention of community care clearly as:

Helping people to lead, as far as is possible, full and independent lives is at the heart of the Government’s Approach to Community Care.

People need no longer be ‘patients’ on the ward but can be ‘clients’ in their own home- where people receive professional assessment and care-packages in a collaborative manner (for instance through Care Programme Approach set up in conjunction with the 19900 Care in the Community NHS Act). And subsequence guidance such as ‘working together’ means that professionals are now expected to collaborate in order to provide the best possible care for the client.

We would argue that the model of Community Care does not shift responsibility on to families.

As we have heard, carers are a valuable asset to the concept of community care, not purely from a financial perspective but also from the perspective of person receiving care. In terms of the welfare state, it is only realistic to work within the limits of monetary boundaries and support carers. Even Sweden, famed for its strong welfare state has since the last decade seen the emergence of government policy that supports carers within their system. This was highlighted by the Magnussan and Nolan 2006 paper that explores innovative ways that carers can be supported in Sweden. In the same way I argue that Community Care is a good thing for clients supporting social inclusion and choice. With adequate and innovative support we are not shifting responsibility to carers. Instead we are collectively creating a model of care that empowers individuals- both carers and the cared for alike!

.
Question: What are these innovative ways to support carers?

Answer: you’ll find out on Tuesday!!!