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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Bleddyn P. Davies, DPhil, PSSRU & Oxford Institute of Ageing, LSE & Universities of Kent and Oxford, England, 21A Blandford Avenue, Oxford, OX2 8EA, United Kingdom, 01865 511513, b.davies@lse.ac.uk

Two developments suggest 2006 to be a climacteric. [a] The Wanless Report on social care (King's Fund 2006) provides a broader intellectual framework and a wider range of estimates for British discourse about future resource needs as well as systematic discussion of alternatives. [b] The white paper on community health and social services (Cm 6737 2006) clearly illustrates how political priorities require that interventions costing most to public ltc budgets should also be justifiable because of their contribution to achieving the most important goals of health policy. In the light of these, the paper considers [a] the scale and nature of the English challenge, [b] evidence about likely political prioritisation of ltc compared with other demands, particularly for public spending on pensions and health, [c] whether and to what extent the development of new private, public and partnership funding mechanisms could help to reconcile national aspirations and values about the quality of life and care of frail older people, and [d] the balance of welfare between older people in different circumstances, burden on families, a contribution to reducing need for long-term care by life-style changes and preventive service, and greater service efficiency.

Learning Objectives: