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. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...
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
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
and
social care in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
.
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
Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...
and
diabetes
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
. 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, the term can be used for such therapies as
hypnosis or
Alexander Technique
The Alexander technique, named after its developer Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869–1955), is an alternative therapy based on the idea that poor posture causes a range of health problems. The American National Center for Complementary a ...
in which the therapist is an enabler rather than a
paternalistic 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
*
Shared decision-making in medicine
Shared decision-making in medicine (SDM) is a process in which both the patient and physician contribute to the medical decision-making process and agree on treatment decisions. Health care providers explain treatments and alternatives to p ...
*
Patient and public involvement
*
Coproduction (public services)
*
Medical paternalism
References
{{Social work
Healthcare in the United Kingdom
Social care in the United Kingdom