A survey of social services needs assessments for elderly mentally ill people in England and Wales

Abstract

Objective: to examine variations in the needs assessment policies and practices of social services departments in England and Wales in dealing with elderly people who have mental illness. Design: postal questionnaire survey. Subjects: a random sample of 61 of 119 social services departments in England and Wales. Main outcome measure: 99-item questionnaire. Results: 40 responses were received (66%). There were substantial differences in the way referrals were screened before needs assessment and in the design of needs assessment procedures. Disagreements between health and social services were common and, although mechanisms existed to respond to urgent needs, almost one-third found such responses difficult to make. Conclusions: there are national variations in the way needs assessments are performed by social services, which may lead to inequalities in provision of care to individuals. The lack of a standardized approach impedes comparisons of need between areas which might aid in the distribution of resources at a national level.

Health needs assessment tools: Progress and potential

“…A SNAP core group was organized with seven subgroups to cover specific health-care topics; this strategy created new opportunities for collaboration with public health services, collated data that were not readily available for local use, facilitated surveys, and used the information provided by the policy-makers. Findings of other research confirm that using such an organized approach produces a standard environment in which comparison would be possible (62). However, such strict organization may confine the researchers to specific topics and neglect other needs.…”

Integrated specialist assessment of older people and predictors of care-home admission

“…Characterizing the decision-making process for admissions There is no standard approach to determining need by social services departments and assessment approaches vary (Stewart et al 1999 ;Martin et al 1999). In the UK, social as well as clinical criteria are judged important in decisions to place older people in care homes.…”

The assessment of older people's needs in care homes

“…Whilst there is some evidence on the nature and content of assessment approaches employed in the assessment of older people living in the community (Martin, Pehrson, & Orrell, 1999;Stewart, Challis, Carpenter, & Dickinson, 1999), little is known about assessment in care homes in the UK. The present study aims to address this by examining two questions.…”