Negotiating access to community care assessments: perspectives of front-line workers, people with a disability and carers

This paper presents evidence from a study of how people with a disability a nd their carers gain access to community care assessments following the imp lementation of the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act. The authors found that the way in which practitioners and managers responsed to shortfalls between needs and resources had a significant: impact on the way in which people w ith a disability and carers gained access to assessments. The results of th e study also indicate that older people face additional barriers in negotia ting access to assessments. The authors conclude that particular attention needs to be paid to the provision of accessible information to people with a disability and carers about the criteria and procedures used in community care assessments.