INTRO | HIGHLIGHTS | FEATURES | INTERVIEWS | PERSPECTIVES
05
Informal care
networks come
to the rescue for
communities in need
Local knowledge sharing builds resilience of care
services for older people to extreme weather
AN ARTICLE LED BY Dr Jonathan Wistow
on older people’s care from the BIOPICCC
project, finds that local knowledge sharing
can build resilience of health and social
care services for older people in the
UK to extreme weather events, such as
prolonged cold weather, heat waves, and
floods. The study is based on interviews
and focus group discussions with older
residents in the UK aged 66–81, local
health and social care providers, and
resilience and climate change managers.
Authors of the study recommend that
formal and informal systems of care
need to be integrated in order to better
prepare for emergencies and associated
risks involving extreme weather. Local
cooperation between family and
friendship support, and public sector
providers can mitigate health network
discontinuities that potentially harm older
people’s health and sense of wellbeing.
Involving all parties in preparing for
extreme weather, including service
providers, infrastructures, and older
people themselves, could allow for better
delivery of health and social care services
to older people during extreme weather
events. Views of both older people and
health service providers help identify the
resilience of infrastructures and service
agencies. The study involved researchers
in social work, social policy, sociology,
health care, psychosocial development,
geography, and engineering.
KEY FINDING: Accumulation of local
knowledge by service providers can aid
local preparation for extreme weather
events in a changing climate.
Wistow, J., Dominelli, L., Oven, K.,
Dunn, C., Curtis, S. (2013) The role
of formal and informal networks in
supporting older people’s care during
extreme weather events. Policy &
Politics. Online: http://bit.ly/1m4iLOB
Below: Satellite image of 2003 heat wave across
Europe. (NASA)
A STUDY BY Professor Lena
Dominelli finds that informal care
embedded within local communities
in the UK is in some cases more
sustainable in addressing the needs
of vulnerable populations than
formal systems in place. Public
and informal care services often
come to the assistance of private
care providers. These networks
of informal support appear to be
maintained primarily by women who
are often relied upon when formal
care systems fail. Dominelli finds
that a combination of self-help and
informal care from women is filling
the growing gap left by crumbling
infrastructures and formal care
systems, especially when calamitous
events such as those caused by
extreme weather occur. While
these informal networks promote
community resilience in caring for
vulnerable citizens, they may also
be vulnerable to increasing cuts in
funding for public care services.
The increasing demands placed on
informal carers (especially women)
may become unsustainable in the
long-term.
KEY FINDING: Strong sense of
community and social capital are
essential for communities to sustain
themselves as they are the ‘social
glue’ that holds communities
together during times of crisis.
Dominelli, L. (2013) Mind the Gap:
Built Infrastructures, Sustainable
Caring Relations and Resilient
Communities in Extreme Weather
Events. Australian Social Work, 66
(2), pp. 204–217.
Connections with local communities allow for
more effective delivery of humanitarian aid
INTERNATIONALISATION with regard to humanitarian aid
is about linking the local needs of communities affected by
disaster with global assistance and resources. But in practice
internationalisation may not always respect the values,
cultures and perspectives unique to a specific locality that
is receiving aid. Researchers living near where a disaster
takes place, and who are familiar with the local languages,
are usually better placed to empower affected communities.
A study authored by Professor Lena Dominelli published in
International Social Work draws on the outputs of a unique
Durham University research project based in Sri Lanka
‘Internationalising Institutional and Professional Practices’,
during the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Findings published in the paper are based on 368 in-depth
interviews involving a cross-section of stakeholders, an online
survey and 10 focus groups in 12 villages in southern Sri
Lanka. Dominelli recommends that practices that attempt
to assimilate cultural diversity from a Western perspective
are likely to undermine people’s lifestyles and cultures, and
should be avoided. Moreover, empowering research processes
on this subject should also develop links with local partners
involved in delivering humanitarian aid. While the research
shows that help during the immediate aftermath of the
disaster was welcome, exchanges were not always equal, with
some people not receiving the support they needed. Villagers
interviewed for the study suggested that aid donors could
improve the situation by doing more effective assessments of
needs, providing clearer criteria for who was entitled to what,
making all levels of the aid process transparent, and building
better systems of resource allocation and distribution, along
with making other recommendations. Observing local culture,
traditions and languages, promotes ‘empowering aid processes’
allowing humanitarian assistance to improve the quality of life
in disaster-affected communities during the aftermath and
long-term reconstruction.
An en