Deborah Setterlund

Older people and their assets: A range of roles and issues for social workers

Abstract Following a 10-year research program around assets and ageing, the present paper summarises the work done, and outlines the major findings from the perspectives of older people, carers, and service providers. The research has explored the roles and practices of family caregivers in managing older peoples assets, the experiences of older people who receive such assistance, the factors associated with the financial abuse of older people with and without cognitive capacity, and the concerns of aged care practitioners when the mismanagement of assets is suspected. The experiences of older people and their carers are characterised by a range of responses that generate a number of issues for social work practitioners. Taking a critical perspective, the article discusses practice responses in relation to financial abuse, the assessment of the capacity of the older person to make decisions, and assisted and substitute decision making around asset management.

Evaluating communication for resident participation in an aged care facility

Speech pathologists who work in aged care facilities are often challenged to find appropriate measures of communication that consider the frailty of residents and the policy environment that speech pathologists are required to work within. This article describes a process for evaluating resident participation in an aged care facility (ACF) using the framework of the World Health Organizations International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). It also presents the findings of this process from one ACF, a 60-bed high care facility. Assessments of individual residents communication impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions were conducted initially, followed by evaluations of the physical and social communication environment of the facility. At the individual level, residents were found to have a high prevalence of communication impairments and reported activity limitations and participation restrictions associated with these. The environmental assessments identified that residents had few opportunities to communicate, and that the physical and social environment was not conducive to communication. This study supports many others that have found a high prevalence of communication disabilities in residents of ACFs. It also confirms that the communication environment is not conducive to participation and recommends assessments for identifying both resident and facility-wide communication problems.

Access to assets: older people with impaired capacity and financial abuse

This paper draws upon findings from a secondary analysis of suspected financial abuse cases in files of the Guardianship and Administration Tribunal in Queensland, Australia. The paper explores the association between formal and semi‐formal asset management arrangements and suspected financial abuse cases. The role of families as formal asset managers is also considered.

Older people's assets: a contested site

The management of the financial assets of older people is increasingly important in the current policy context. Competing interests from the state, the market and the family regarding the appropriate use of these assets suggest that non‐professional managers are assisting older people in a complex environment. This paper, based on a national prevalence study and an in‐depth study, explores the nature and extent of asset management on behalf of older people. It examines the role of legal provision for substitute decision‐making in these processes and concludes that the current provision is insufficient to protect older people from financial abuse and support carers to manage assets well. This paper proposes that more broadly based interventions are required in a complex environment of competing interests. Such interventions include attitudinal change, improved financial literacy, information and support for older people and informal asset managers and improved monitoring and support for substitute decision makers.

Older people and substitute decision making legislation: limits to informed choice

Objective: To explore older peoples knowledge and experience of the law relating to assisted and substitute decision making in Queensland.

'I know I signed something': Older people, families and social workers' understanding of the legal aspects of entry to residential care

This purpose of this paper is to report findings that older people are legally vulnerable when entering an aged care facility, that social workers lack knowledge of the legal aspects of this move and do not necessarily view this information as core to their practice. The structure of social work services mirror the disjuncture older people and their families experience at this time and this may, in part, explain social works lack of attention to these issues. Although many social workers are in contact with older people, the profession in Australia has been slow to develop a knowledge base to support effective practice with this group.

Social work and social care practice

This lively and engaging book is an adaptation of the bestselling introductory social work book available in Australia. This edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect wider changes that have characterized social work training and practice in recent years. It offers readers an essential grounding in the knowledge, values, and skills needed for successful completion of their degree. Key Features: Comprehensive content - includes discussion of theoretical perspectives, policy; assessment; intervention, the ethics and values framework; and practice-learning.; A student-friendly approach - includes case-studies, chapter summaries, further reading sections, and discussion questions.; A multi-professional perspective - recognises the experiences of all those working across the field of social care and incorporates service-users voices.; Practice-oriented - offers specific guidance to overcome challenges and provides an effective framework for practice. This authoritative textbook will be an essential guide to the challenges and concepts underpinning social work practice. It offers a flavor of what social work entails and engages with recent debates about the nature of practice. It will be an invaluable text for social work trainees, and will also be useful reading for post-qualifying students and practitioners.

Capturing the complexity of women's experiences: A mixed-method approach to studying incontinence in older women

Capturing the voices of women when the issue is of a sensitive nature has been a major concern of feminist researchers. It has often been argued that interpretive methods are the most appropriate way to collect such information, but there are other appropriate ways to approach the design of research. This article explores the use of a mixed-method approach to collect data on incontinence in older women and argues for the use of a variety of creative approaches to collect and analyze data.

The new caring: Financial asset management and older people

Abstract:  Increasing longevity and the growing proportion of the aged in the population in most countries have served to focus on the question of how governments and older people can finance living, health, and care options in retirement. Prudent management of income and assets is an increasingly complex and important aspect of aging as assets and expectations of self‐financing increase. Although many informal caregivers act as asset managers and/or substitute decision‐makers for older people, little attention has been paid to this increasingly important aspect of care. This paper summaries key findings of a broad research program exploring family involvement in the management of older peoples assets and the practices that constitute good practice as well as financial mismanagement and abuse. It identifies multi‐level and multi‐strategy responses needed to address the issues raised by the research and outlines an innovative community demonstration project aimed at improving financial management practices in relation to older peoples assets.

Managing older people's assets: does rurality make a difference?

Abstract This paper explores some of the issues relating to asset management for older people in non-urban Australia using data from a research program that is seeking to gain improved understanding of the prevalence and nature of asset management practices on behalf of older Australians. It recognises the relevant issues in relation to rurality identified in the literature, some of the complexities of succession planning and managing rural assets, particularly family farms, explores differences related to rurality from a national survey, in depth interviews with rural carers and focus groups with public trust officers and points the way forward for future research.