Family group conferences : an opportunity to re-frame responses to the abuse of older people?

Parkinson, KP; Pollock, S; Edwards, D

Abstract

Recent legislative and policy changes in adult social care have refocused attention on a strengths-based approach to social work practice. The Care Act 2014 advocates a
more inclusive and holistic understanding of individual well-being, which is evident by its expectation of more personalised responses to safeguarding. Family Group
Conferences (FGCs) fit well with this policy shift but require further exploration before being integrated into work with adults. A fictitious case study was analysed through an organic group discussion, during which the authors applied their professional expertise to explore the appropriateness of FGCs to provide a response to adult-safeguarding cases. FGCs provide a viable alternative to traditional decision-making approaches in the adult-safeguarding field. The case analysis exposes three main areas
that require further consideration to ensure effective implementation. The areas identified are divided into mental capacity, risk and funding. It is important that policy
makers and local authorities acknowledge the complexity of transferring an approach originally designed for working with children and families to the context of social
work with older adults. More effort should be made to address the practice tensions outlined within the article.
Keywords: Family Group Conference, adult safeguarding, older adults, elder abuse, the Care Act
Accepted: April 2018

Citation

Parkinson, K., Pollock, S., & Edwards, D. (2018). Family group conferences : an opportunity to re-frame responses to the abuse of older people?. British Journal of Social Work, 48(4), 1109-1126. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy048

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 14, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jul 25, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 25, 2018
• Deposit Date: Oct 9, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 25, 2020
• Journal: The British Journal of Social Work
• Print ISSN: 0045-3102
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-263x
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1109-1126
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy048
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy048
• Related Public URLs: https://academic.oup.com/bjsw