Health and social care provides vital support to people with physical and mental disabilities. It can help them to live a fulfilling life and reduce their isolation. It is a great way to feel confident and capable, and it is important that everyone has access to it.
Most local councils have responsibility for publicly funded social care. They will carry out an assessment and prepare a support plan for you.
Benefits
Working in health and social care offers a rewarding career with the potential to improve the lives of those in your care. In this sector, you will be able to make a significant difference to people’s well being, helping them to live life as fully and independently as possible. There are many benefits to this sector, including flexible work hours and opportunities for career progression.
Health and social care is an important part of a person’s healthcare, with many different options available to help them stay healthy and maintain their quality of life. These services are provided by the NHS, as well as a variety of private providers.
Local commissioners (usually based in councils) oversee a large market with a range of care services that are available to be purchased on a publicly funded basis after an assessment, such as home support and activities, alarm systems to manage risks, short-term care and reablement, daycare, residential care homes, and housing options with varying levels of care.
Eligibility
Health and social care can be a very challenging career choice. Students studying H&SC will often take part in a work placement or study for a qualification in the hope that they can get a job within this sector. They will typically have to learn about a number of different subjects including sociology, biology and nutrition.
In the UK, a person can receive healthcare services free of charge through the NHS and a local council can offer social care. The first step in getting social care is having an assessment of your needs, and the local authority will then decide whether you meet their criteria for eligibility.
Some countries have used innovative models of integration to integrate their health and social care systems. These models include aligning budgets to common goals, pooling funding and management staff, or creating a joint governance body. For example, the Norrtalje model in Sweden combined the local governance structures of both the local health care and social care authorities to create a new joint governing committee.
Planning
Health and social care planning involves identifying the needs of people and developing strategies to meet those needs. It also explores the relationships between services and how they can be accessed by individuals. This process ensures positive outcomes and secures a better state of wellbeing for individuals. It is important to plan for all aspects of a person’s care, including their social care, because it can have a significant impact on the quality of their life.
Several policy initiatives have focused on integrated health and social care, including screening for social risks in primary healthcare clinics, building new cross-sector collaborations, and financing social care with healthcare dollars. These efforts are demonstrating promising results, but they are not without challenges.
Conventional thinking conveniently conceptualizes health and social care as self-contained areas with their own spheres of funding, provision and research. Jon Glasby shows how this over simplification has problematic implications for inter-agency coordination and distribution of responsibility.
Costs
In the past, many healthcare administrators viewed social work departments as unnecessary expenses that didn’t actually benefit patients. However, formal research and real-life case studies soon proved that these departments actually reduce costs and are an important component within the healthcare system.
For example, social workers can help individuals navigate the complex maze of local community resources that can assist with housing, food insecurity and transportation needs. This can prevent them from being readmitted to the hospital for complications, such as a fall or hunger-related illness.
The new Administration should allow states to rebalance the ratio of medical-to-social spending by shifting money away from current health care costs and toward investments in addressing social determinants that have a more powerful impact on health outcomes. This approach could help reduce costs and improve lagging U.S. health outcomes. This is especially critical as demographic shifts increase demand for healthcare services in the coming decades. This is a vital time to invest in community-level solutions that promote a healthy aging population.