What is the full range of adult social care support that people in Scotland currently receive, how does this vary for different groups (e.g. age, type of social care need) and how does this vary across Scotland?
Background
Statutory adult social care is overseen and administered by local authorities, who provide data on this provision. However, this data is complex, and at times non-comparable or incomplete. There is also a substantial portion of the population who may access social care support outwith statutory provision, through privately funding part or all of their own care, as well as receiving support from unpaid carers. These individuals are often invisible in datasets that seek to track social care clients.
We want to increase our understanding of who accesses what kinds of social care, where, when, and how. Understanding how people are accessing social care includes understanding how social care operates as part of the wider system of health and social care and where there are opportunities to strengthen access through further integration of services. This could include for example, evidence on the application of the GIRFE (Getting It Right For Everyone) principles.
Next steps
Get in touch with [email protected]
Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Social Care Analytical Unit Areas of Research Interest 2026 2029 published 25 March 2026
Topics
No topics assigned yet
Research fields
No research fields assigned yet
Related UKRI funded projects
-
Carers Assessment Support
**A difficult time to care** Across the UK our social care system is more stretched than ever with increased demand and decreasing budgets. The lack of capacity in the system is placing additional pressures on the unpa...
Funded by: Innovate UK
Lead research organisation: UPSTREAM OUTCOMES LIMITED
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on carer support and reforms in England, not the full range of adult social care support in Scotland.
-
University of Brighton and Guild Care KTP 23_24 R1
To develop a monitoring and evaluation framework assessing the social impact of adult social care interventions to inform service design and engage donors to invest in new care approaches....
Funded by: Innovate UK
Lead research organisation: UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on monitoring and evaluation of adult social care interventions, not the full range of adult social care support in Scotland.
-
Disability and care needs in the older population: disability benefits, social care and well-being
The project aims to deliver new evidence to sharpen policy judgements on promising directions of reform of publicly-funded support for older people with care needs. In the UK, such support consists of two main elements. ...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of East Anglia
Why might this be relevant?
Fully relevant as it aims to deliver new evidence on publicly-funded support for older people with care needs, including in Scotland.