Partnership in safeguarding people with dementia from a primary and social care perspectives

Introduction

The Care Act 2014 makes safeguarding a legal duty and provides local authorities and other agencies in England with a responsibility to protect adults with care and support needs from abuse and neglect. This is done most effectively when all relevant agencies work together. This is particularly important for people living with dementia, as they are at higher risk of abuse or neglect. Such abuse is most common in their own homes and care settings.

Primary and social care professionals are likely to have regular contacts with older people, hence have opportunities for early identification and prevention of abuse. However, little is known about how primary care practitioners work in partnership with social care and other agencies to investigate and manage abuse.

Objectives

This project will outline how health professionals in primary care settings understand and respond to abuse and what their understandings of safeguarding law and policy are.

It will also identify how social services departments assess and manage referrals relating to people living with dementia in primary care settings.

Furthermore, the study will analyse the experiences of people with dementia and families who are at the centre of safeguarding.