How effective are different social care pathways for improving service users' experiences and outcomes?

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

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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

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