Social care needs of older refugees and asylum seekers

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• Social care needs of older refugees and asylum
  seekers
• Pete Fleischmann, SCIE Principal Adviser
  Participation
• Zemikael Habte-Mariam, Equalities National
  Council

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What I will cover in this talk

• Background to SCIE
• SCIE resources work on Refugees and Asylum
  seekers
• Zemikael Habte Mariam a personal perspective

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About SCIE

• SCIE was launched in October 2001 as part of the
  Government's drive to improve social care
• It is an independent charity, governed by a board
  of trustees

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SCIEs role

• To produce good practice guidance for the social
  care sector in order to improve services
• We gather knowledge from a range of sources
  including organisations, practitioners, policy
  makers, researchers, service users and carers
• We use this evidence to produce a range of good
  practice guidance

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SCIE Products Knowledge reviews, resource
guides, practice guides, position papers,
reports, training packs

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SCIEs values

• To have a service user focus
• Be independent in our research and findings
• Promote empowerment and change
• Be committed to equality and diversity
• Be transparent
• Be accessible in all our work
• Be accountable to our stakeholders

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www.scie.org.uk
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SCIE work on Refugees

• Race equality discussion paper 02 The social
  care needs of refugees and asylum seekers
• By Bharti Patel and Nancy Kelley

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Findings

• Low income
• Unmet personal care needs, such as difficulties
  with washing and dressing, were common among
  disabled refugees.
• lack of awareness about sources of support
• High levels of mental health needs
• language and communication are major barriers to
  accessing services.
• negative public attitudes even among service
  providers.
• Agencies lack of information about the numbers

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Recommendations

• Social care agencies should carry out local
  mapping and consultation exercises
• those with social care needs are likely to be
  among the most seldom heard, use flexible and
  innovative methods
• The social care needs of refugees and asylum
  seekers cannot be met by local authority 'asylum
  teams.
• The refugee community and voluntary sectors
  should play a far bigger role in the planning,
  design and delivery of social care services.
• Involve users in design and delivery of services

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Older Refugees social care needs

• I do not ask for any services. I would like to ,
  but I dont know what to request or how to
  initiate a request. I do not know who the service
  providing agencies are . Im disabled and sitting
  at home 72 year old Somali woman
• Less awareness of rights and services
• Likely to age faster
• Interpreting issues
• Importance of informal series as gateway

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Planned work

• Good practice guide social care services for
  refugees and asylum seekers
• first stage literature review complete
• Next stage a practice survey and guide