From a campaigning concept in the 1970s, direct payments - the substitution of cash for services - have become a key part of UK government social care provision. This book charts the change, critically evaluating progress, take-up, inclusion and access to direct payments by different user groups.

Introduction ~ Joanna Bornat; Section 1: Setting the scene: An overview of the implementation and development of direct payments ~ Jon Glasby and Rosemary Littlechild; Direct payments in Scotland ~ Charlotte Pearson; North American approaches to individualised planning and direct funding ~ Peggy Hutchison, John Lord and Brian Salisbury; Section 2: Policy into practice: Direct payments and autonomy: issues for people with learning difficulties ~ Val Williams and Andrew Holman; "It's meant that, well, I'm living a life now": older people's experience of direct payments ~ Heather Clark; "Direct what?" Exploring the suitability of direct payments for people with mental health problems ~ Julie Ridley; Overcoming barriers to the take-up of direct payments by parents of disabled children ~ Jeanne Carlin and Christine Lenehan; Section 3: Voices of experience; Section 4: Reporting from the field: Implementing direct payments: a support organisation perspective ~ Etienne d'Aboville; The Direct Payments Development Fund ~ Frances Hasler; An experience of the Direct Payments Development Fund ~ Rob Wilson and Kathryn Gilbert; Carers and direct payments ~ Margaret Fletcher; Section 5: Working with direct payments: "It's not like being at work": a study to investigate stress and job satisfaction in employees of direct payments users ~ Janet Leece; Direct payments and the employment relationship: some insights from cross-national research ~ Clare Ungerson; Can intensive support widen access to direct payments? ~ Laura Luckhurst; Care managers and direct payments ~ Annette Lomas; Section 6: Developments in direct payments: Direct payments and health ~ Caroline Glendinning; The future of direct payments ~ Jon Glasby, Caroline Glendinning and Rosemary Littlechild; Holding the dream: direct payments and independent living ~ Frances Hasler.