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AA Presentation - Emma
- 1. A Report into the level of awareness and the impact of Attendance Allowance Presenter: Emma Wood Teesside University Stockton & District Advice and Information Service
- 2. What is Attendance Allowance? A benefit paid to those aged 65 and over who have care needs To help with cost of long term illness or disability Paid at a lower rate of £55.10 a week or a higher rate of £82.30 a week Can improve a recipients eligibility for other benefits e.g. Carers Allowance
- 3. Background Information 146,960 Entitled cases unclaimed 8050 Entitled cases Unclaimed in the North East Between £443,555 and £662,515 Unclaimed 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 Entitled Claiming Caseload(Thousands) Attendance Allowance in the (North East) - May 2015
- 4. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 Caseload(Thousands) Attendance Allowance by (Local Authority) - May 2015 Entitled Claiming 480 Entitled cases Unclaimed in Stockton-on- Tees Between £26,448 and £39,504 Unclaimed in Stockton (SDAIS) has helped 95 people with their AA enquiries in the past 3 months
- 5. What were the aims of the research into Attendance Allowance? Why is the under-claiming of Attendance Allowance such a widespread issue? How did participants find the claiming process? How can we raise awareness? How has it had an impact on their lives and what do they use the allowance for?
- 6. Methodology of Research Mixed-methods approach 34 Quantitative Questionnaires 19 Semi-structured Interviews
- 7. Profile of Participants 56% were female 44% 56% Gender of Participants Male Female 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89 90 and over NumberofParticipants Age of Participants
- 8. Findings 47% didn’t claim before as they had Never heard of AA 47% didn’t claim before as they didn’t know they were eligible 67% found claiming very easy with help from Advice Centre 75% found claiming very hard/hard when they didn’t use Advice Centre
- 9. 53% heard about AA from a friend or family member 88% were helped by an advisor in order to make the claim for AA 56% had the form completed face to face at an agency 44% had the form completed face to face at their home
- 10. Of those who did not think they were eligible, 88% thought AA did not apply to them. Of those who did not want to apply for AA, 100% thought that they would be viewed negatively for claiming a benefit 88% had never claimed Attendance Allowance before 65% of participants were awarded a rate of Attendance Allowance
- 11. Trends Trend 1 – Participants thought the main reasons for under-claiming were lack of awareness and the forms being too complicated “I think it’s because the form is so complicated, people probably try to fill it out and give up because it’s so confusing”. “I think it’s mainly people not knowing about it or also thinking that it doesn’t apply to them”. “I hadn't a clue about it really, I thought it was just for people already on benefits. So I think the problem is not knowing about it or knowing the criteria for it”.
- 12. “I think it’s mainly people not knowing about it or also thinking that it doesn’t apply to them. I didn’t think it would apply to me so its not very clear”. Trend 2 - Many Participants stated that they would have been unable to complete the form without help “I don’t think I would have been able to do it myself. I suffer from depression and it would have been a big hurdle”. “I think people who don’t get help might see the form and give up because its so big. It should be cut down and made simpler, its silly”. “The form was like a book, I couldn’t have done it without help. I just ignore forms most of the time because they are too complicated. There is no way I could have done it on my own”.
- 13. Trend 3 – Many Participants came up with useful ideas to increase awareness. “There should be more information in places like the Doctors and Hospitals because that’s where you sit and wait”. “People my age read the papers and go to the doctors, maybe something on the telly as well would be good”. “I think an article in the Newspaper would be good. Any leaflet I get through the door just go in the bin. I think Doctor’s should tell you about it though if they see you often enough”.
- 14. Trend 4 – Participants stated that they spend their AA on various things. “I spend it on shopping but it mainly helps towards my transport to get to my appointments”. “Well I pay for taxis to get out and about, is nice to get out of these four walls and treat myself”. “I could pay for repairs that I needed for my house and it goes towards my care needs as I need to pay for people to help me. It also helps towards heating and food costs”.
- 15. Trend 5 - Many participants stated that AA had made a difference to their lives. “Its good because you feel less anxious about the little things like keeping the heating on for longer”. “It helps us to socialise and I don’t worry so much about feeling isolated anymore”. “It has made a big difference to my health, before I was counting every penny and couldn’t afford healthy food. I’m anaemic and have osteoporosis so a good diet is important and I wasn’t eating what I should have”.
- 16. Trend 6 - When participants were asked about what their thoughts and beliefs are about claiming benefits, many stated how it went against their beliefs “In my generation, nobody expects anything or hears about benefits”. “I think a lot of people might feel ashamed though because It kind of goes against what you were taught”. “I’ve never had anything before and I’ve worked all my life. I don’t believe in it really”. “Well I don’t like claiming benefits but I've paid into it all my life, so I think why shouldn’t I get something back?”
- 17. Summary Many said they did not know AA existed before applying Did not know eligibility Criteria Many identified the forms as a problem e.g. too complicated without help Stigma still attached to claiming benefits AA has had a positive impact on recipients
- 18. Recommendations Encourage a myth-busting campaign to tackle stigma that surrounds the claiming of benefits More information in key places e.g. (Doctors, hospitals) about criteria and where to get help with application Further exploration of how to best target friends and family members of those who may be entitled. E.g. possibly Social media
- 19. Any Questions
Editor's Notes
- Attendance allowance is paid at two rates, a lower rate of £55.10 a week and a higher rate of £82.30 a week. In order to qualify for Attendance allowance at the lower rate, a person must satisfy either the day or night time tests to show they need attention either during the day or night. In order to qualify for the higher rate a person must show that they require attention during both the day and night and satisfy the test. Attendance allowance is there to help with the extra cost of long term illness or disability. For many it is of a great support and helps some to maintain their independence for as long as they can, without it they may lose their independence. Attendance Allowance is a non-means tested benefit, meaning that a claimants income has no bearing on their entitlement for it. The allowance is also an unrestricted amount meaning that the recipient can choose to spend it how they wish. The money is provided to help the recipient in any way that improves their lives such as shopping, bills, food and transport. Attendance Allowance is referred to as a passporting benefit as is it may have an impact on a clients eligibility for other benefits too. Once someone is in receipt of Attendance Allowance it may also mean that someone is eligible to claim carers allowance. It can also increase a persons pension credit or reduce council tax if they meet a certain criteria.
- When researching in to the background information regarding Attendance Allowance, it became evident that the under-claiming of the benefit was prevalent across all regions not just the north east. When looking at all the regions provided on the chart which shows the number of people entitled to AA in red compared with the number who are actually claiming in blue it illustrated that there was a total of 146,960 entitled cases that were unclaimed as of May last year, this amounts to between £8-12 million a week. However the level of under-claiming in the north east can be seen here and this means that there is a total of 8050 entitled cases that have gone unclaimed according to figures from DWP May 2015. this amounts to between 443,000 and 662,000 a week.
- A degree of under-claiming was also evident when breaking the data down to look at each local authority. It became clear that there are 8050 entitled cases which went unclaimed in North east alone. Also, in Stockton on Tees there was a total of 480 entitled cases unclaimed from may 2015. These figures highlight a major problem of under-claiming and is quite alarming considering that Attendance allowance is there to help those with long term illness or disability keep their independence for longer and alleviate the growing pressure on health and social care agencies. ONS statistics from 2011 show that County Durham and Northumberland are the two largest local authorities in regards to population. The level of under-claiming in Stockton on Tees equates to between 26,000 and 39,000 a week unclaimed. The Stockton & District Advice and information Service has helped 95 people with their enquiries in the past 3 months.
- When undertaking the research, a certain set of goals were laid out. For example what the research aimed to achieve. These aims included a greater understanding of why the under-claiming of Attendance Allowance is such a widespread issue. To look at how participants found the claiming process and to also gain a deeper knowledge of the best way to raise awareness of AA. The research also looked into how Attendance has changed the participants lives and how they choose to spend the allowance to benefit them. It is clear that there is a need for future research into attendance allowance to help identify if there have been any positive changes in regards to awareness levels, the claiming process and the attitudes of claimants. This is of increasing importance considering the growing ageing population which means that there will be an increasing number of elderly people who need help and support. Future research will also be necessary since there are proposed changes to the budget for attendance allowance being considered by the Government. The proposed changes would mean that the responsibility for the budget of attendance allowance would be devolved and transferred over to local authorities. These proposals have raised certain concerns regarding support for older people.
- The research was carried out using a mixed-methods approach of both quantitative and qualitative designs. This included a quantitative questionnaire which outlined how the participant had heard of Attendance allowance, where they heard of Attendance allowance and how they found the claiming process. A total of 34 of these questionnaires were completed and the results analysed. The second part of the research included a semi-structured interview which provided a way of acquiring more in-depth answers regarding how they found the claiming process, how to increase awareness and also how it has impacted on their lives and how they choose to spend the allowance. A total of 19 of these semi-structured interviews were carried out. The research was completed either over the telephone or at the participants home depending on the participants preference.
- The personal profile of the participants meant that 56% were female and 44% were male. Also, the majority of participants were in the 75-79 age range with second popular age range being 65-69. out of all the participants 97% described themselves as white and only 3% described themselves as black. The majority of participants were the single occupants of their household with 20 out of 34 people stating this. A further 11 people stated that they lived with their partner.
- The findings of the quantitative research meant that there were a number of issues that were highlighted. This includes the fact that 47% had not claimed before as they had never heard of Attendance allowance and an equal number of 47% had never claimed before as they did not know they would be eligible for it. These results illustrate that lack of awareness of attendance allowance and its eligibility criteria is contributing towards the under-claiming of attendance allowance. However it was evident that the experience of the claiming process differed somewhat when the participant filled out the form by themselves or with someone other that the advice centre. This is clear with the figures that show 67% of those who used help from the advice centre found the claiming process very easy, whereas 75% of those who did not use help from the advice centre found the process very hard/hard.
- Also the quantitative results show that 53% of participants heard about AA from a friend or family member, highlighting the need to not only target those who may be eligible for AA but also those who come in to contact with them. 88% of participants were helped by an advisor to made their claim for AA. The fact that 56% had the form completed fact to face at an agency and 44% had the form completed face to face at their home highlights the importance of help face to face for most participants.
- Of those who did not think they were eligible for AA, 88% thought this was because it did not apply to them, this highlights the need for more information about the eligibility criteria of AA and what it is used for. Of those who stated that they had never claimed AA before as they did not want to, 100% stated it was because they believed that they would be viewed negatively for claiming a benefit this shows that there is still a degree of stigma that exist surrounding the claiming of benefits and that this needs to be tackled. 88% had never made a claim for attendance allowance before, however 65% of participants were awarded attendance allowance with 32% with an unknown outcome.
- The Qualitative research allowed several themes come to light as it became apparent during the interviews that there were certain responses that were more common that others. The first trend identified in the research was that when participants were asked what they thought the reasons were for the under-claiming of attendance allowance, they stated that many people will not know about it or that they are eligible for it. They also stated that it may be down to the forms being too hard and complicated that some may be put off by it.
- Another trend in the research was that when participants were asked how the found the claiming process, many stated that they would have been unable to complete the form without help. This further supports the view that the forms come across as being too complicated for clients.
- The third trend was that when participants were asked what they believe to be the best way to increase awareness of Attendance allowance. The most common answers included information on the television and in the newspapers. The majority of participants also highlighted the importance of information being provided at the Doctor's surgeries or hospitals either through posters, leaflets or word of mouth. This further supports the view that those who may come into contact with those who may be eligible, e.g. doctors and other health and social care workers could increase awareness of Attendance allowance.
- Trend 4 identifies the most common things that participants choose to spend their AA on. These mostly included general household costs, shopping and taxis to safely get to and from their destinations.
- When asked how attendance allowance had made a difference to their lives, many participants stated that they now felt less anxious and worried about money. Participants felt that they no longer had to worry about counting every penny and paying the bills. Attendance allowance was also identified as having a positive affect on the recipient feeling less socially isolated as they could afford to get out of the house. The Attendance Allowance has also had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of those claiming, with some stating that they can now afford to buy healthier food and that this is needed for many due to health issues such as anaemia, diabetes and osteoporosis.
- The final trend identified the beliefs and attitudes of the participants in regards to claiming benefits. Although most participants stated that benefits can be a good thing and that AA is a big help for them, it was evident that there was still a degree of stigma that exists. The participants provided a key insight into generational differences as many claimed that they did not expect anything and just got on with it. Many took great pride into working all their lives and paying into the system, and felt a degree of shame and apprehension about claiming benefits. These results highlight the need to educate those who may be eligible for attendance allowance and reinforce an attitude without embarrassment or shame.
- When analysing the results from both the quantitative and qualitative data the conclusions that were drawn are many stated that they did not know about attendance allowance before they applied and were unaware of the eligibility criteria. Participants also identified the forms as a major issue as they described them as complicated. These factors combined are what has contributed towards the under-claiming of attendance allowance. It has also become clear that there is still a stigma surrounding the claiming of benefits in particular amongst the older generation. Of those that were involved in the research and had been awarded the AA they had stated how it had improved their lives in numerous ways as they feel less anxious and isolated, whilst still holding onto their independence.
- The findings have highlighted that there are many who hold negative views about claiming benefits and it is important to tackle these views in order to ensure that those who are entitled to help are getting it and don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed to ask. This is why it is important to give more information about the facts of those claiming attendance allowance and how it helps those who are receiving it. There should also be more information about AA made available in key places such as Doctors and hospitals as the findings have identified a lack of knowledge surrounding AA and its eligibility criteria. It may also be beneficial to create a social media campaign targeting children and grandchildren of those who may be entitled to AA. This is supported by the research results which state the majority of participants hear about AA through a friend or family member.