Spotlight on:Council-managed personal budgets

As a major provider of services to older people, Age UK is interested in what research tells us is known to work. In this book we've asked experts to write jargon-free summaries of the latest evidence they have of the most effective practice. We hope it will inform and further the debate about how services can enhance the lives of older people today. In his foreword Lord Filkin says, 'The key question is how to make these years as healthy, happy and meaningful as possible and improve the quality of later life whenever we can. This sounds a heroic, even utopian, ambition but this excellent Age UK publication makes crucial points about how to realise this vision. It tells us that service designers and providers should listen to what older people say they want and value, and co-design services with them, rather than doing things to them. We should also need to recognise the huge diversity among older people, and make the best use of the evidence of what works best.' 'Services for Older People - What Works' is a valuable and accessible guide to current best practice in the care and support of older people. It makes essential reading for service providers, commissioners, and others who fund or deliver services for older people.