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BJSW Advance Access published online on February 9, 2007
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl379
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved

Article

‘There Are Wonderful Social Workers but it’s a Lottery’: Older People’s Views about Social Workers

Jill Manthorpe 1 *, Jo Moriarty 2, Joan Rapaport 2, Roger Clough 3, Michelle Cornes 2, Les Bright 4, and Steve Iliffe 5, OPRSI (Older People Researching Social Issues) 6

1 Professor of Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King’s College London, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NN, UK
2 Research Fellow at the Social Care Workforce Research Unit
3 Emeritus Professor of the University of Lancaster and is engaged in a variety of studies of social care for regulatory bodies and other funders
4 Independent researcher and consultant
5 Practicing General Practitioner in inner London and is Reader in General Practice at University College London Medical School
6 Research co-operative of older people who have particular interest in communicating the views of older people and carers to policy makers

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Jill Manthorpe, E-mail: Jill.manthorpe{at}kcl.ac.uk


  Abstract

This paper draws on the evaluation of the impact of the English National Service Framework for Older People (NSFOP) on the experiences and expectations of older people, four years into its ten-year programme. The NSFOP focuses on achieving cultural changes so that older people and their carers are treated with respect, dignity and fairness. The evaluation took a mixed methods consultation approach in ten localities. This paper focuses on what was said by older people, their carers and in voluntary sector groups about social workers’ roles and activities. The data suggest that they find social workers’ roles unclear and variable. They appreciate a person-centred approach, informed about older people’s needs in a confusing social care system. Their perceptions tally with those of social workers that the tasks of care management can be reductionist, but older people also desire specialist knowledge combined with a relationship that is ‘on their side’. Social workers’ roles in rationing support and means-testing did not seem to promote such models. At a time of rising expectations about the skills of social workers and of changes to social work roles in England and Scotland, this study provides one of the few examples of information directly gathered from older people themselves.

Keywords: social work, older people, satisfaction, quality assurance, professional role, user perspectives.
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