John Chesterman

This title was first published in 2003: This book provides an evaluation of the Gateshead Community Care Scheme which was devised as an alternative to residential and hospital care for frail elderly people. An important feature of the scheme was the decentralization of control of resources to individual social workers acting as care managers, with defined caseloads and expenditure limits to ensure accountability. The initial social social care scheme was subsequently extended to provide both health and social care to clients from a large general practice based in a health centre. The social care team was enlarged to include a nurse care manager and part-time doctor and physiotherapist. The study examines the operation of care management in both settings, the use of devolved budgets and services developed, the outcomes for clients and carers and the costs of care. Admissions to residential care were reduced and the elderly people who received the scheme’s support experienced a better quality of care and greater well-being when compared with elderly people receiving the usual range of services. This was achieved at no greater cost. The characteristics of those for whom the scheme was most appropriate are described. In addition, the pattern of development of the scheme as it was incorporated into the mainstream of the Social Services and after the implementation of the NHS and Community Care Act are examined. Final, the implications for the development of care management are considered.

This title was first published in 2000: Caring for Older People provides a unique insight into the world of community care in the 1990’s. It presents findings from a national study of social care from the perspectives of older service users, their carers and care managers. Descriptive findings from this longitudinal study - conducted by the PSSRU from 1994 and funded by the Department of Health - are set in the context of the history of community care and developments since the passage of the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act. The study’s findings highlight important challenges for policy and practice development in the new millennium.

This title was first published in 2003: This book provides an evaluation of the Gateshead Community Care Scheme which was devised as an alternative to residential and hospital care for frail elderly people. An important feature of the scheme was the decentralization of control of resources to individual social workers acting as care managers, with defined caseloads and expenditure limits to ensure accountability. The initial social social care scheme was subsequently extended to provide both health and social care to clients from a large general practice based in a health centre. The social care team was enlarged to include a nurse care manager and part-time doctor and physiotherapist. The study examines the operation of care management in both settings, the use of devolved budgets and services developed, the outcomes for clients and carers and the costs of care. Admissions to residential care were reduced and the elderly people who received the scheme’s support experienced a better quality of care and greater well-being when compared with elderly people receiving the usual range of services. This was achieved at no greater cost. The characteristics of those for whom the scheme was most appropriate are described. In addition, the pattern of development of the scheme as it was incorporated into the mainstream of the Social Services and after the implementation of the NHS and Community Care Act are examined. Final, the implications for the development of care management are considered.

This title was first published in 2000: Caring for Older People provides a unique insight into the world of community care in the 1990’s. It presents findings from a national study of social care from the perspectives of older service users, their carers and care managers. Descriptive findings from this longitudinal study - conducted by the PSSRU from 1994 and funded by the Department of Health - are set in the context of the history of community care and developments since the passage of the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act. The study’s findings highlight important challenges for policy and practice development in the new millennium.

Supporting People with Dementia at Home details a groundbreaking study of an intensive care management scheme designed for older people with dementia that are at risk of entry into residential care. The authors use a quasi-experimental approach to compare how the individuals on the mental health team in one community were matched to a similar community without the service. They analyze the evidence focusing on the eventual placement of the individual suffering, the quality of care they receive, and also the needs of their carers. This book offers valuable evidence about the factors which can maximize the independence and well being of older people with dementia, from the perspective of older people and their carers. For those who commission services, it is highly relevant to service models for the National Dementia Strategy in England.

Supporting People with Dementia at Home details a groundbreaking study of an intensive care management scheme designed for older people with dementia that are at risk of entry into residential care. The authors use a quasi-experimental approach to compare how the individuals on the mental health team in one community were matched to a similar community without the service. They analyze the evidence focusing on the eventual placement of the individual suffering, the quality of care they receive, and also the needs of their carers. This book offers valuable evidence about the factors which can maximize the independence and well being of older people with dementia, from the perspective of older people and their carers. For those who commission services, it is highly relevant to service models for the National Dementia Strategy in England.

Australia has traditionally lacked a strong 'rights' culture. While fairness and equality have been proudly exalted as trademarks of the national mindset, the authors of The Politics of Human Rights in Australia argue that these same characteristics may equate to a form of cultural complacency. The book offers the first comprehensive account of Australia's protection of human rights from a political science perspective. Addressing the key debates surrounding human rights in Australia, the authors ask: Why are voting rights so critical in the Australian context? Should Australia adopt a bill of rights in an 'age of terror'? What are Australia's responsibilities to global and regional refugee crises? How can reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians be facilitated? Written by three respected academics at the forefront of their fields, The Politics of Human Rights in Australia offers clarity and insight into the complex issues surrounding the human rights debate in Australia.

This is the first comprehensive study of the ways in which Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have been excluded from the rights of Australian citizenship over the past 100 years. Drawing extensively upon archival material, the authors look at how the colonies initiated a policy of exclusion that was then replicated by the Commonwealth and State governments following federation. The book includes careful examination of government policies and practice from the 1880s to the 1990s and argues that Aboriginal people have been central to notions of Australian citizenship by virtue of their exclusion from it. It overturns many assumptions and misunderstandings, arguing that there was never any constitutional reason why Aborigines could not be granted full citizenship. The authors show that citizenship was an empty term used to discriminate systematically against Aboriginal people.

This is the first comprehensive study of the ways in which Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have been excluded from the rights of Australian citizenship over the past 100 years. Drawing extensively upon archival material, the authors look at how the colonies initiated a policy of exclusion that was then replicated by the Commonwealth and State governments following federation. The book includes careful examination of government policies and practice from the 1880s to the 1990s and argues that Aboriginal people have been central to notions of Australian citizenship by virtue of their exclusion from it. It overturns many assumptions and misunderstandings, arguing that there was never any constitutional reason why Aborigines could not be granted full citizenship. The authors show that citizenship was an empty term used to discriminate systematically against Aboriginal people.

'Law for the Poor' and 'Lawyers for the People' declared the headlines that announced the opening of the Fitzroy Legal Service in December 1972. In a dingy town-hall basement in one of the poorest suburbs of Melbourne, this new legal service set out to do the unthinkable: to provide free legal advice to all comers. Almost a quarter of a century later, under an equally radical Liberal government, the Fitzroy Legal Service has found itself cast in the unlikely role of a defender of the status quo against reforms that threaten judicial independence and restrict the availability of legal aid. John Chesterman traces the evolution of the Fitzroy Legal Service from a thorn in the side of the legal profession to a valued contributor to legal debate. In this process, he provides an entertaining and perceptive account of the forces that have prompted legal reform in Australia from the early 1970s, particularly in the development of legal aid.