Keeping safe and staying healthy starts from the appropriate preventative knowledge which guides and equips people, irrespective of their role, to identify and manage risks, make informed decisions and choose the way individual needs are attended to (ROSPA, 2016). Attained within Care Act 2014, Local Authorities have a general responsibility to provide a ‘proportionate’ and accessible service so all adults can obtain information and advice in relation to care and support (Care Act 2014:c23:p1:s4). To ensure fairness and equality, the duty extends to those not in receipt of formal support which suggests ‘invisible’ individuals, such as some informal carers or service users with ineligible needs, are given deserved recognition (Age …show more content…
According to Carter (2016) a quarter of council websites feature out-of-date or incorrect information about care and support. Not only are gaps confusing, but having trusted the authenticity of the source, misleading information can leave individuals in dire straits. Similarly, as an area which is continually lacking, possibly due to additional costings, questions remain about the effectiveness of targeted guidance to minority groups, including ethnic minorities requiring documentation translated (CSCI, 2008). Likewise, websites themselves pose barriers for some people. Morris et al, (2007) states the older generation tend to lack interest or desire to use computers, but may not have any other way of obtaining essential …show more content…
Highlighting its commitment to safeguarding, Care Act has updated language, removing the term ‘vulnerable’ which infers ‘weakness’ as being responsible for inflicted abuse, rather than perpetrators, to a superseded non-blaming definition (HSSP, 2015). The new and more precise intervention threshold is characterised by a ‘reasonable cause to suspect’ an adult who has ‘needs for care and support (even if they are unmet); is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect; and needs prevent them from being able to protect themselves’. Any adult fitting all the criteria, is the grounds Local Authorities must possess to make, or delegate, an ‘enquiry’ and determine resulting ‘action’ (Care Act,