14-01-2014, 01:24 PM
1
Foster Care For The Elderly
A fostering scheme where families will be paid to take elderly people into their homes is to be tried in Leicester.Carers will be paid £224 a week and Leicester City Council will pay for modifications to their homes.
Age UK warned that potentially vulnerable people could be placed in homes with strangers.
But the council said carers would be vetted before being approved, and care would be closely monitored.
But the council said fostering is not intended to replace care homes.
Rita Patel, assistant city mayor for adult social care, said: "It's not suitable for everybody but for people who want to be in a family environment, who want to be taken care of on an individual basis, it's a fantastic scheme."
The scheme will be an extension of the council's Shared Lives service, under which people with dementia, disabilities or mental health problems can live with foster families, stay for a short respite break, or go for daytime support.
There are already 8,000 Shared Lives carers in the UK, recruited through 152 local schemes.
Leicestershire Age UK told the Leicester Mercury that the scheme should be approached with a "degree of caution as it would involve placing potentially vulnerable people in homes with strangers".
But Mr Fox said Shared Lives Plus schemes are monitored by the Care Quality Commission, the regulator of health and social care services.
He said abuse scandals often involved "people locked away", while Shared Lives allows people to keep a network of friends and family, which keeps them safe.
What do you think of this as an alternative to those who can no longer look after themselves from being put into a care home?
Is it very much different to child fostering (I'm thinking about those saying that it would leave elderly people open to abuse)?
14-01-2014, 02:03 PM
2
Re: Foster Care For The Elderly
It is very different fostering children you are not unless they are very small expected to do things you may need to do to an elderly person. I looked after elderly relatives and it's not easy I always thought give me two or three nieces and nephews to look after they are a breeze in comparison to older people.Having said that we have to do something and if we try it and it works then great. Just hope no one suffers if it goes wrong though.
14-01-2014, 02:07 PM
3
Re: Foster Care For The Elderly
My daughter and youngest granddaughter have a real soft spot for elderly people and always have (not sure why to be honest) and neither are particularly fond of children so fostering an elderly person would be more up their street. I do think that the elderly with mental health issues should not be fostered (I have known people looking after elderly relatives who have dementia and it really wore them down and that could, I suppose, lead to abuse).Maybe this is targetting people who are just simply alone in the world and would end up in a care home and maybe fostering would give them the opportunity of a 'family' around them again?
14-01-2014, 05:22 PM
7
Re: Foster Care For The Elderly
I think its a great idea for the more agile and with it elderly person who should be allowed to meet and choose the family as much as the family can... meetings held for a few times before minds are made up and the ability to stop the arrange for both sides if its mot working .
14-01-2014, 05:38 PM
9
Re: Foster Care For The Elderly
It could work IF enough training, support for the fostering family and monitoring were put in place. On the other hand the cynic in me asks, is this a way of getting cheap care for the elderly and vulnerable? £224 is a lot less than Local Authorities have to pay to Care Homes.|
|
