Self-Direction in Long Term Services and Supports

This book assesses the impact of the 2007 Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation in developing individual plans for helping people with disabilities to stay independent. The chapters in this book were originally published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work and Home Health Care Services Quarterly.

Kevin J. Mahoney is Professor Emeritus in the Boston College School of Social Work, USA; Founding Director of the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services; and was National Program Director of the Cash and Counseling Demonstration Evaluation and Replication (1996-2008). Ellen K. Mahoney is Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Connell School of Nursing at Boston College, Massachusetts, USA. Michelle Putnam is Professor and Director of the Doctoral Program in Social Work at Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. In addition, she is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.

Introduction 1. "It's Changed Everything": Voices of Veterans in the Veteran-Directed Home and Community Based Services Program 2. "It just took the pressure off": The voices of Veterans' family caregivers in a participant-directed program 3. "I'm just trying to cope for both of us": Challenges and supports of family caregivers in participant-directed programs 4. Preparedness of representatives for people with dementia in a self-directed program 5. Unmet needs in self-directed HCBS programs 6. The Tasks and Characteristics of Supportive Support Brokers 7. The times they are a-changing: Self-directed long-term services and supports and gerontological social work