Conference

Date: Monday 12 March 2007
Time: 9.30 am – 4.30 pm
Topic: Home Care for Ageing Populations: International Comparisons of Domiciliary Care Policies for Older People

Location: The Printing House, Main campus, Trinity College Dublin

(Please note that this conference is fully booked)

Confirmed Speakers: Prof. Caroline Glendinning, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, UK Dr. Tine Rostgaard, Socialforskningsinstituttet, Denmark Prof. Andrew Scharlach, School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley Prof. Hildegard Theobald, Research Centre on Ageing and Society, University of Vechta, Germany

Topic of conference: The older person’s own home, as opposed to an institution, is almost universally advocated as the preferred location for those with care needs. What exactly is meant by home, or domiciliary care? What kind of forms does it take in different countries? What are the policies that underlie these different models of home care? What are the outcomes of different home care policies?
The international guest speakers will outline the home care policies for older people in their countries, and will highlight the main issues and problems as they are manifesting themselves in their respective care regimes at present. The intention is to examine home care from a comparative perspective, and to gain an understanding of the intended and actual outcomes and implications of different kinds of care policies for the service users and their families. What are the key similarities and differences between the organisation, financing and delivery of home care in the four systems? What kind of policies has research shown to have adverse consequences? What kind of policies have beneficial and desirable consequences for older persons? What, if any, is the role of older persons themselves in defining and influencing home care policies and practices? How consequential are policies in terms of the availability and acceptability of home care services?

Conference format: The guest speakers will give presentations on home care policies in their respective countries, i.e. the United Kingdom (England), Germany, Denmark and the United States (State of California). A presentation on home care policies in Ireland will be followed by commentary by two older persons who have recent or ongoing experience of using home care services in Ireland. The conference programme allows plentiful time for questions and discussion.

View Conference Presentations in PDF format (Download Adobe Reader)
Home Care Policies in the United States (299kb)
Domiciliary care for the elderly - a Danish perspective (250kb)
Home care services for older people in England (48kb)
Home Care in Germany (22kb)
Home Care of Older People in Ireland: Main Issues and Challenges (112kb)
Home Care in Practice II:Service Provider/Purchaser (HSE) Perspective (128kb)