Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review evidence about the role of education in supporting ex-service personnel to move to social care work with older people. Social care has long-standing, well-recognised problems of staff recruitment and retention in many jurisdictions. Within ageing societies, the need for more social care staff is predicted to rise. Therefore, policy makers and employers are exploring if there are untapped sources of potential employees. Some ex-service personnel may be interested in exploring a move to social care work with older people but may need to gain additional qualifications. Design/methodology/approach: Databases and grey literature were searched systematically to provide an overview of the evidence on this topic. Six articles were included in the review. Findings: A narrative analysis revealed two themes: preparing ex-service personnel for enrolment onto health and social care programmes, and supporting ex-service personnel during health and social care programmes. Research limitations/implications: This review was confined to English language studies published between 2008 and 2018. Few mentioned specific user or client groups. Originality/value: This review identified evidence gaps relating to whether the skills, education, training and experience gained in the armed services are transferable to civilian social care work with older people; the types of support which are offered to ex-service personnel who are interested in completing qualifications necessary for social care roles and the views of ex-service personnel about their experiences of completing educational courses to facilitate a transition into social care work with older people.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 127-141 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Working with Older People |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 29 Aug 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The views expressed in the review are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care or its arm?s length bodies or other government departments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Education
- Ex-military personnel
- Ex-service personnel
- Older people
- Qualifications
- Social care
- Workforce