 |
 |
Housing and Support A Major Conference at the University of York 2/3 April 2003 The Supporting People Programme has focused attention on housing related support and community care interface as never before. From 1992 to 2000, domiciliary care contact hours provided in England increased by 65 per cent, but the number of households receiving services fell by 25 per cent. As the low intensity emotional support and help around the home, which demonstrably promoted well being, began to fade away, policy questions were raised about the loss of services that had had a potentially preventative role. Will Supporting People, as is intended, be able to fill this gap in service provision, extending and complementing the capacity of the domicillary care services commissioned by social services? Further, in the context of an ageing population and a projected increase of 23 per cent increase in older people in residential care between 2000-2020, from around 375,000 to around 460,000 people, will Supporting People, as is intended, be able to provide a lower cost alternative to residential care that enhances quality of life and promotes independence and self-care for older people and other adults with community care needs? Other key conference themes include: Integrating lives: more than bricks and mortar. What are the models of housing related support that can be drawn on and what is our evidence base? How can the needs of specific groups, like people with Black and minority ethnic backgrounds or older people with dementia, be met? Can we move from physical integration to real integration within neighbourhoods? Frameworks, finance and regulation. How well does Supporting People fit with other changes, such as the preventative agenda for older people, how can providers prepare for the changes? Policy directions: is there a future for collectivist provision? What is the role of traditional supported housing models like sheltered housing? Need there be tensions between collectivist models of provision and individualised packages of support? Choice and control. What is the scope for people with support needs to be involved in plans, management and decision-making? What are the barriers? Do the parameters extend to involvement in broader neighbourhood based regeneration agendas? How does housing and support relate to the 'social model of disability'? Do participatory research methods have a particular part to play in questions around housing and support? Plenary speakers at the conference include some of the leading academic researchers in the field of housing and community care and disabled people and housing: Frances Heywood Lynn Watson David Clapham James Barlow Chris Allen Full details of the conference are available at: <http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/hsa/spring2003.htm> http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/hsa/spring2003.htm SOME PLACES STILL REMAINING BOOK NOW. Jane Allen Centre for Housing Policy University of York Heslington, York YO10 5DD tel: 01904 433691 fax: 01904 432318