2 Home care: workers and users

Most often, family and friends provide much of the support older people require. However, some people don’t have family and friends to draw on. And for those who do, sometimes there is a struggle to meet a person’s full care needs – as was the case with Ann in the audio. This is where social care comes in and – in the following activity – you will find out how people access these services and what they might receive.

Maximise

Figure 1 For several decades now, home care workers have been an important source of support

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There are two photographs depicting care over the decades. On the right is a black and white picture from the 40s with a care worker fussing over a lady in chair. On the right is a more modern image of a carer using a chair hoist to lift a woman into a chair.

Figure 1 For several decades now, home care workers have been an important source of support

You now turn your attention to the people on the front line of social care: those who provide home care, and those who receive it. If people, like Angus, are to be able to stay in their own homes, despite significant health problems, the workers who support them become ever more important.