The support older people want and the services they need

What barriers are preventing older people from accessing practical every-day services and what improvements can be made in assessing their needs and providing these services?

A team of researchers, practitioners and older people tackle these questions in this report, based on:

• seven discussion/focus groups of older people across England;
• surveys of local authority staff in commissioning of services, social workers and nurses;
• a study of policy and research literature;
• reviews by the project team and other experts.

The authors argue that public services can only help older people to lead fuller lives if there are local collaborations of paid staff, politicians, service providers and older people themselves.

This project worked in parallel to the Older People’s Inquiry into ‘That Bit of Help' (Raynes et al, 2005).