Welfare benefits’ screening and referral: a new direction for community nurses?

Abstract

The White Paper, Towards a Healthier Scotland considerably widens the community nursing scope for health promotion, as it recognises that disadvantaged life circumstances as well as unhealthy lifestyles contribute to poor health. It has been shown that income and health are interrelated. This evidence has demonstrated that it is not how rich a nation is that determines the overall health of its inhabitants; it is how equitably its wealth is distributed that counts: countries that have narrow income differentials tend to have better health. Both the income and health divide in Britain widened considerably between 1980 and 1992. It is argued that increasing income inequality leads to social isolation and chronic stress, which can impact on psycho-social pathways and damages life expectancy. This paper suggests that community nurses can address adverse life circumstances by finding ways of improving the economic status of their most vulnerable clients, and that one way of doing this would be to ensure that clients claim their full quota of welfare entitlement, given that there is several billion pounds of social security benefits that remain unclaimed in Britain every year.

Proactive, targeted benefits advice for older people in general practice: a feasibility study

“…Whilst this increased awareness may serve to lower the threshold for referral in the future, it was not envisaged that anybody else from within the practice would be able to take on this work in addition to their usual duties. However, evidence from elsewhere suggests that community nurses have had some success in offering welfare benefits screening (Hoskins & Carter 2000). The work required specialist benefit knowledge, as well as an awareness of statutory and voluntary services, and the time and resources needed to carry out casework.…”

“…Income and health are interrelated in that disadvantaged life circumstances contribute to poor health. Income inequality leads to social isolation and chronic stress, which can impact on psychosocial pathways and damages life expectancy (Hoskins & Carter 2000). Placing welfare benefits and advice services in general practitioners’ (GPs’) surgeries as a way of reducing poverty and income inequalities is not a new concept (Paris & Player 1993, Hobby et al .…”

Financial effects for families after the death of a disabled or chronically ill child: a neglected dimension of bereavement

“…General estimates of non-uptake of disability benefits including DLA is estimated to be in the region of 40-60% (Craig & Greenslade 1998), and disparities in receipt of DLA have been found for severely disabled children (Roberts & Lawton 1998).Various mechanisms have been suggested for the provision of advice on welfare benefits within primary and community health care. Hoskins & Carter (2000) see a role for appropriately trained community nurses in enabling clients to claim appropriate benefits, referring people for more specialized help where necessary. Evaluations of the provision of advice services in primary care settings have produced positive results in terms of benefit take-up (Paris & Player 1993;Sherratt et al 2000).…”

A delay they can ill afford: delays in obtaining Attendance Allowance for older, terminally ill cancer patients, and the role of health and social care professionals in reducing them

“…Health and social care professionals, such as general practitioners (GPs), nurses and social workers, have been identified as being in a position to provide assistance to claim benefits (Davies & Connolly 1995, Clark 1997, O’Neill & Rodway 1998, Hoskins & Carter 2000, Rummery & Glendinning 2000). A study by Sainsbury et al .…”