Routledge Community Care in England and France: Reforms and the Improvement of Equity and Efficiency (Routledge Revivals)

First published in 1998, the aims of this book are: the comparison of community care service and financing systems, the comparison of reform arguments and history over the last decade, the comparison of who uses how much of what services, and with what impact on their needs and the probability of having to enter institutions for long-term care. The book breaks new ground by comparing systems from a new perspective and describing contemporary reform argument and proposals for the first time in the English language. It presents new evidence from the most ambitious collection and analysis of quantative data so far made for the comparison of the two countries (based on matched area samples collecting comparable information about cohorts of new users on two or more occasions). The book also shows how the need-related circumstances of users differ between countries and within each country between areas. The book shows how and why higher levels of the French cash benefit for community care had more effect on the central policy goal than its British counterpart, how higher levels of services generally had little impact on it in either country, but on average, how the effect of the British services were much greater. Review ’This is a work of considerable scholarship, striking an admirable balance between descriptive detail and general policy overview. It is resolutely focussed on the comparable equity and efficiency of health and social care services in England and France. Those already acquainted with the operation of the services in the two countries will find a new analytical framework. Those wanting an introduction to a now very topical question will find Davies’ well-established approach an excellent guide through complexity.’ Professor Robert Leaper ’Community Care in England and France is a groundbreaking comparative analysis of equity in care consumption and efficiency in care production...this book’s strength is its use of standardized measures of need, dependency, disability, and informal care...poses essential questions for further reading.’ European Journal of Social Work