Community Care Policy and Practice

By Robin Means, Sally Richards and Randall Smith.
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 0333983262
£17.99   

Community care policy and practice have been subjected to continued rapid change since the implementation of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990. The third edition of this book looks at the impact the modernisation agenda is having on the reforms introduced by that legislation.

The early chapters set the background and historical context. Later chapters examine the modernisation of public policy – particularly since 1997 – and its implications for community care policy and practice. This includes evaluation of the drive towards partnership and interprofessional working practices. The authors also analyse critical perspectives, particularly from service user and carer movements, and alternative European approaches to community care.

The final chapter debates the achievements and failures of community care policy and practice. It features many of the discussions practitioners will be familiar with, as it considers the future of social services and potential directions for ideology, policy and practice.

This book succeeds in providing information, setting policy and practice in context, and raising challenging debates about the future.

Karin Crawford is senior lecturer in social work, Hull School of Health and Social Care, University of Lincoln.