Food and drink care-related quality of life of older adults accessing community-based care services in England

Community-based social care plays an important role in addressing food and drink care-related quality of life (QoL) outcomes and associated needs of older people. An analysis of data from the English Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) was conducted to explore the QoL and unmet needs of older people using social care services. Between 4.3% (2011) and 8.1% (2022) of older adults reported unmet need. This increased over time, after controlling for other factors, potentially due to context, e.g., cost-of-living, underfunding of social care. The analysis demonstrates the importance of understanding older adults’ QoL outcomes/needs, as reflective of effective community-based care.