Quality of life of older adults who use social care support and their unpaid carers

A key outcome of community-based social care for older adults (e.g. home or domiciliary care, day centre activities, personal budgets etc.) is to support individuals’ to maintain or improve quality of life. Although the evaluation of social care interventions, practice or policy may use quality of life outcomes to estimate the effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of services, there are few studies that explore the impact of social care on both the person receiving care or support and their unpaid carer(s). An understanding of the relationships between service user and carer quality of life outcomes would support the planning of policy, service provision and social care practice to incorporate a broader view of the impact and effectiveness of social care services. This study draws on data from a survey of older adults who use community-based social care support and their primary unpaid carers. Information was collected on socio-demographic, environmental, survey administration and social care-related factors that may be associated with care-related quality of life outcomes measured using the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) and ASCOT Carer interviews (INT4). Preliminary regression analysis will be presented to identify the key factors associated with the impact of social care support on quality of life of older adults, carers and older adult/carer dyads. These relationships will be discussed in light of their implications for social care policy and practice.

This paper is based on research conducted by the Quality and Outcomes of person-centred care Research Unit (QORU) funded by the Department of Health. The views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the Department of Health.