Shared care involves the establishment of partnerships between professionals and laymen in which they share a common goal. Examples are an improvement in the health of a patient where there is
patient empowerment to take a major degree of responsibility care and arrangements in which the life of a disadvantaged person is improved by the joint efforts of a
social service
Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administ ...
and an outside lay provider. In truly shared care, the partnership is a genuinely equal one with neither partner being subservient or superior.
Shared care is a term largely used in
health care and
social care
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wor ...
in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
.
In general health care
In a more mainstream health-orientated context, the term can be used for the schemes involving
patient empowerment that are targeted at medical problems as
substance abuse and
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
. While generally welcomed, shared care approaches can raise concerns about what is expected from different individuals and, for healthcare professionals, the consequent legal implications of changes in liability.
In complementary medicine
In
complementary medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
, the term can be used for such therapies as
hypnosis
Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...
or
Alexander Technique in which the therapist is an enabler rather than a
paternalistic
Paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good. Paternalism can also imply that the behavior is against or regardless of the will of a person, or also that the behavior expres ...
prescriber (Alexander Technique practitioners even call themselves "teachers").
In social care of children
Shared care is used in a social context to describe the activities of organisations that provide short breaks for disadvantaged children or those helping to enlist families for short term fostering. In each case, there is significant input from the nonprofessional supervised by the professional. The practice is widespread with examples throughout the country of this usage, with clients from all age groups and types of disabilities or social problems.
The
Child Support Agency uses the term for a very specific purpose: "it refers to each of the separated parents having the children with them part of the time, so that direct expenditure is shared too."
A shared care order in relation to the care of children has the same meaning as a
shared residency order.
[Warren H.]
Shared Care Orders
Hawkins Family Law, published 17 May 2019, accessed 16 July 2021
See also
*
Coproduction (public services)
Co-production is a practice in the delivery of public services in which citizens are involved in the creation of public policies and services. It is contrasted with a transaction based method of service delivery in which citizens consume public ser ...
References
{{Social work
Healthcare in the United Kingdom
Social care in the United Kingdom