Care services for elderly people in the Bradford district do not focus enough on the needs of individuals, a new report claims.

The study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, published today, found services were often run more for the convenience and budgets of providers than for the benefit of the people who need them.

A total of 142 pensioners and 48 carers across ten ethnic communities were interviewed for the research, which also found them to share common experiences of access to and delivery of care services, regardless of their cultural backgrounds.

Dr Gianfranco Giuntoli, a research fellow at Leeds Metropolitan Univer-sity, who carried out the study, said: “An expression used by someone interviewed for the research was ‘they need to think outside the box’. There needs to be more co-ordination among services and more services that are tailored and flexible to individual needs.

“Often people had the impression that there was a list of boxes to tick and that did not involve looking at things in perspective.”

The report also found across all ethnic groups, elderly people wanted more say in how and where they lived and who provided help in their homes.

Dr Mima Cattan, lead researcher for the study, said: “The main thing that really stood out was there were quite a number of issues that cut across all groups and they were really about being an older person, rather than being specific for a certain ethnic group.

“I think people were expecting to see big differences but in fact the main needs they expressed were similar.

“A number of people said service providers came in and ticked the box so they could say they had been assessed for a particular service and didn’t look at individual needs. There was an overall sense that services were so pushed they lost sight that they were dealing with individuals and people with specific personal needs.”

The research found elderly people and carers often lacked information about the availability and function of services as well as progress of their assessments. There was also a need for service providers to avoid and challenge ageist attitudes and assumptions about ethnic communities.

Responding to the survey, Moira Wilson, Bradford Council’s strategic director for adult and community services, said: “We are committed to making sure that all older people benefit from person-centred support, tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

“We are aware that people from the wide range of different communities in Bradford do have different needs and we have worked with older people to develop a number of specialist services to support them.

“These include specialist extra care, sheltered housing, home care, support for carers and funding for voluntary groups.”

CASE STUDY

Pauline Green, 62, of Allerton, Bradford, has been caring for her husband for 15 years since he had a stroke at the age of 51.

She is unable to claim carers allowance as she receives a state pension.

Any care services needed by her husband, who is now immobile, must be paid for.

Mrs Green agrees with the findings of the Joseph Rowntree report that individual needs were often not being met.

She said: “It’s very hard, I have received no support. I paid out for home care while I was working but I had done most of the work myself before they arrived.

“I can’t afford to pay for any help now so I do everything to care for him myself. Nobody comes to check on him.

“People are always saying I should have respite care but I don’t know how to get it.”