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BJSW Advance Access originally published online on November 3, 2006
British Journal of Social Work 2008 38(1):73-90; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl341
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

For the Sake of their Health: Older Service Users’ Requirements for Social Care to Facilitate Access to Social Networks Following Hospital Discharge

Eileen McLeod, Paul Bywaters, Denise Tanner and Maureen Hirsch

Eileen McLeod is a Reader in Social Work at the University of Warwick. Her research interests focus on social work’s contribution to tackling health inequalities.

Prof. Paul Bywaters is Professor of Social Work, and Director of the Centre for Social Justice at Coventry University. His research interests centre on social work and health inequalities.

Dr Denise Tanner is Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Warwick. Her particular research interest is social work’s role in promoting older people’s well-being.

Maureen Hirsch is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at Coventry University. Her research interests and activism concern older people and social justice.

Correspondence to Dr Eileen McLeod, Reader in Social Work, School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. E-mail: e.mcleod{at}warwick.ac.uk


  Abstract

Facilitating older service users’ requirements for access to or re-engagement in social networks following hospital discharge is recognized in social care analysis and policy as critically important. This is because of the associated benefits for restoring physical health and psychological well-being. However, it tends to be a neglected dimension of current social care/intermediate care. Our paper draws on a qualitative study of voluntary sector hospital aftercare social rehabilitation projects in five UK localities, which focused on addressing this issue. Through examining older service users’ feedback and experience, our study confirms the health benefits of social care facilitating access to social networks at this crucial juncture. By providing sensitive interpersonal interaction, advocacy and ‘educational’ assistance, social care workers supported older service users’ re-engagement in a variety of networks. These included friendship, recreational and family groups, health care treatment programmes and locality based contacts and organizations. As a result, material, interpersonal and health care resources were accessed, which contributed to restoring and sustaining physical health and psychological well-being. The process of such social care also emerged as critical. This included ensuring that objectives reflected service users’ priorities; integrating ‘low-level’ home care; offering befriending; and challenging the pre-set time frame of intermediate care.

Keywords: hospital discharge, older service users, social networks, intermediate care


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