The development of social care policy for elderly Australians is proceeding with little regard for the preferences and perspectives as expressed by the elderly themselves. The likely consequence is a continuation of policies based largel)1 on other people's assumptions about what elderly people actually need and the extension of service categories into which many elderly people do not easily fit. Discussions with 71 elderly consumers during 1983 in Queensland established that they have input to make into policy and service delivery issues such as the provision of information on services, the determination of needs, the extension of choices between alternative services and choice of appropriate service providers. Social care policy should not continue to develop around singular and untested assumptions concerning what elderly people need and prefer.
SynopsisDespite the importance of the non‐government sector as a major provider of social care for the elderly, its planning and administrative sphere remains relatively uncharted. Planners and administrators from nine Queensland non‐government organisations shared perceptions of their planning environment. While government resources and program guidelines influence their work, they claim their autonomy is not eroded. Governments could facilitate their work by generating needs data, establishing joint planning structures and ensuring territorial justice. The authors argue that if governments presume non‐government organisations are simply vehicles for the implementation of government plans, their potential as response systems for elderly people will not be realized.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.