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Volunteers could earn 'care credits' for helping others Minister hails Japan care scheme
(about 4 hours later)
People who volunteer to help the elderly or disabled could earn time credits which they could then redeem for their own care later in life. A scheme that rewards people with "time credits" for volunteering to help the elderly or disabled has been praised by a government minister.
The system already operates in Japan and the government is now considering whether it could also work in the UK. The system already operates in Japan where people can claim back the credits for their own care in later life.
Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said it could help vulnerable people maintain their independence. Care services minister Paul Burstow says such a scheme can help vulnerable people maintain their independence.
Charities said they welcomed moves to get more people volunteering, but care in old age was a right not a reward. The Department of Health said the government was not currently considering a similar system.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said that increased volunteering is key to his idea of the Big Society.
'Time Account'
In Japan, the system, called Hureai Kippu, was established in 1991 and has been expanding ever since as a way of helping to manage the country's rapidly ageing population.In Japan, the system, called Hureai Kippu, was established in 1991 and has been expanding ever since as a way of helping to manage the country's rapidly ageing population.
Literally translated as "Caring Relationship Tickets", it allows a volunteer to "bank" the hours they spend helping an elderly or disabled person in their personal Time Account.Literally translated as "Caring Relationship Tickets", it allows a volunteer to "bank" the hours they spend helping an elderly or disabled person in their personal Time Account.
Different values apply to different kinds of tasks. For instance, more credit is given for helping at anti-social hours or with personal body care. Household chores and shopping command less.Different values apply to different kinds of tasks. For instance, more credit is given for helping at anti-social hours or with personal body care. Household chores and shopping command less.
These healthcare credits are guaranteed to be available to the volunteers themselves later in life, or to someone else in need, within or outside their family.These healthcare credits are guaranteed to be available to the volunteers themselves later in life, or to someone else in need, within or outside their family.
The local and national government has even set up a nationwide electronic clearing network, so that a person can provide help in Tokyo, while their time credits are available to their parents anywhere else in the country.The local and national government has even set up a nationwide electronic clearing network, so that a person can provide help in Tokyo, while their time credits are available to their parents anywhere else in the country.
Mr Burstow said the government was looking at ways to "enable communities to take social care responsibilities on for themselves". 'Effective way'
"What they do in Japan is effectively a way of people sharing their time and giving of their time to make a difference for people in different parts of the country," he said. In this country, Windsor and Maidenhead Council in Berkshire is thinking of extending the idea behind its recycling "reward" scheme to people who volunteer to work in social care.
"We have some of those schemes here in the UK such as time banks, and what we are doing is making sure we take some of those lessons learnt in Japan and transfer them to our own domestic circumstances." Mr Burstow said: "What they do in Japan is effectively a way of people sharing their time and giving of their time to make a difference for people in different parts of the country.
Asked about those who would receive care under such a system, Mr Burstow added: "What they're going to get is that bit of extra help that can make a huge difference, can [help] keep their independence." "We have some of those schemes here in the UK, such as time banks, and what we are doing is making sure we take some of those lessons learnt in Japan and transfer them to our own domestic circumstances."
Volunteer motive Voluntary groups say they welcome moves that encourage people to get involved in society, but warn that rewarding for voluntary work undermines the idea of giving your time freely.
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organistations, said he welcomed the idea of "incentivising volunteering" but was unsure whether it would work. Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said: "People already have a right to care in old age and the idea that you're going to get it sort of topped-up if you volunteer when you're younger strikes me as slightly odd. These things should be provided by the state."
He told the BBC: "The problem with this scheme is that you're volunteering now in the expectation of getting something in return in probably several years' time. I'm not quite sure that that's the motive. Further details of government plans to reform care services are due to be outlined in the forthcoming public health White Paper.
"The idea that you could log something now and in some years later recover that, as you would a bank account - I'm not sure that that will work. People's motivation for volunteering is normally altruistic, it's not just to get something back."
Sir Stuart said 14 million people in the UK already volunteered every month.
Professor Heinz Wolff, of Brunel University, has been developing a similar scheme called Care4Care.
He said: "It's like buying a pension, but you buy it in kind, in hours. I see that such a system is totally inevitable, with the increasing number of old people."
However, the National Pensioners Convention, an umbrella organisation representing more than 1,000 groups, raised concern about the minister's proposal.
General secretary Dot Gibson said: "Services such as care should be paid for by society as a whole through general taxation, and those who require support in older age should be able to get help based on their needs, not on whether they volunteered to care for someone else.
"This seems like trying to get caring done on the cheap."
Michelle Mitchell, charity director of Age UK, said the social care system required "new ways of raising revenue to provide a decent level of support to all who need it".
Voluntary groups warned that anyone volunteering must be properly trained and that access to proper care was a right that all elderly and disabled people should enjoy.
Further details of plans to reform care services are due to be outlined in the forthcoming public health White Paper.