How do health and social care pathways vary for different demographic groups (age, region, need, experiences, client groups and service users)?
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
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Related UKRI funded projects
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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?
The project focuses on supporting carers and assessing their needs, which is directly related to understanding social care pathways for different demographic groups.
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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?
The project aims to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for adult social care interventions, which could provide insights into the impact of different care approaches on demographic groups.
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Person-centred Integrated Care (PIC) Networks supporting Healthy Ageing in Place
The UK has an ageing population with increasingly complex health and care needs, linked to growing rates of long-term illness and multi-morbidity that are disproportionately high in the most deprived communities. The res...
Funded by: MRC
Lead research organisation: University of Oxford
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on developing Person-centred Integrated Care Networks to support healthy aging, which directly addresses the question of varying health and social care pathways for different demographic groups.