Employment Discrimination Against Older Workers

Pairs of resumes, one for a 57-year-old and the other for a 32-year-old, were mailed to 775 large firms and employment agencies across the United States. Although the resumes presented equal qualifications, the older job seeker received a less favorable employer response 26.5% of times when a position appeared to be vacant. Vigorous enforcement of equal opportunity laws as well as initiatives to change employer attitudes are appropriate responses to such discrimination. The technique of employment testing, demonstrated in this research, can be useful in both efforts.     

Coordinating Health,Extended Care,and Community Support Services

Abstract

Under pressure to maximize the cost-effectiveness of programs, efforts to improve coordination have become increasingly central to the development of the broader health and welfare service delivery system in Australia in the past few years. This article reviews recent experience in two related fields: (1) the coordination of different community care services for older people and people with disabilities, funded by the Home and Community Care program; and (2) the attempt to enhance links between community and residential care services, hospitals, and other health care providers. Why coordination has emerged as such an important issue in the field of community care and, increasingly, across the entire system of what the Australian government now terms health and family services is discussed. A number of measures that have been introduced or are proposed to improve a coordination of services are briefly reviewed. These range from individualistic approaches based on information and referral, through schemes involving gatekeeping, case management and brokerage of services, to models involving the reconfiguration of organizational structures, linkages, and finances. These measures are not mutually exclusive and are increasingly likely to be applied in more complex mixed models of service coordination. It is argued that coordination at the level of direct-service provision is difficult if government policies that direct services lack coordination.     

Children and Society Policy Review: Health Policy Affecting Children and Young People

The Health and Social Care Act comes into force in April 2013. It changes the organisation of the health service and accelerates the integration of health and social care. New relationships between primary and secondary healthcare will develop and the culture of clinical and cost effectiveness will expand into social care; work on children in public care is in the vanguard of this change. However, this is not an organisational change designed for children and there are considerable anxieties about how it will impact on the delivery of health care. The issues for children in public care need to stay high on the national agenda and in local fora.     

Continuing Care Retirement Communities:

No abstract available for this article.     

“They Don't Want to Hear Us”

Abstract

This study used focus groups to understand Hispanic elders' and adult children's concerns about end-of-life planning. Ten older persons participated in the elders group, and ten adult children in a separate group. Themes in both groups included communication, control, burden, spirituality, religious issues, and importance of family relationships. Communication regarding end-of-life planning was of particular importance to both elders and adult children. The most striking indication of the challenges in communication about end-of-life issues is the insistence by both the elders and the adult children that their children/parents do not want to have these discussions.     

Chapter 9. Challenges for the Home Care Supervisor

No abstract available for this article.     

A Qualitative Exploratory Study on the Service Delivery System for the New Long-Term Care Insurance System in Korea

ABSTRACT

To cope with the rapid growth in its aging population, the Korean government introduced a new social long-term care insurance (LTCI) system for elderly people beginning in July 2008. This study aims to understand how National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) staff and home-visiting service providers experienced and evaluated the new service delivery system. A total of 26 semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with NHIC staff primarily responsible for the functional assessment of the elderly and the home-visiting service providers responsible for providing direct services to elderly clients. In summary, interviewees had negative experiences with the new service delivery system such as difficulties in carrying out their roles. The findings suggest that Korea's new LTCI service delivery system faces challenges and that a more active role for the Korean government, especially regarding the introduction of a proper care management system, is needed to address the issues. Future research with larger sample sizes is needed to examine and understand the issues in detail.     

ESTABLISHING THERAPEUTIC GROUPS WITH THE FAMILIES OF SPINA BIFIDA CHILDREN IN A HOSPITAL SETTING

No abstract available for this article.     

Commitment of Private and Public Agency Workers to Child Welfare: How Long Do They Plan to Stay?

ABSTRACT

Method: Child welfare professionals completing training to work in foster care were asked about reasons for taking their child welfare position, commitment to their agencies, and commitment to child welfare. Analyses compared responses from new public agency foster care workers (N = 100), public agency workers making lateral transfers to foster care (N = 64), and new private foster care workers (N = 105).

Results: Private agency foster care workers were less committed to their agencies and to child welfare and more likely to have taken the position because it was the only one available.

Conclusions: The practice by public child welfare of outsourcing foster care services to private agencies needs to be evaluated. This practice may not benefit children in care and may create organizational problems for agencies.