Empowerment in post-reform community care in England and Wales

The UK has been radically reforming long-term care for a decade. Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative administration and Tony Blair’s Labour administration have been determined in their implementation, and provided continuity in general direction. But what matters is who benefits in what way and at what costs to whom. Therefore, this chapter has three objectives: to explore [a] who are empowered to what degree, applying three aspects of the concept; [b] the implications for other benefits of community care of making the maximisation of empowerment of users over their own lives the central aim of community care, given existing relationships between service inputs and outcomes; and [c] the implications of making other benefits the maximand for the levels of empowerment of users and caregivers.