Care and support for older people living in the community

Principal investigator(s):

Raphael Wittenberg

Team:

Rachel Craig, Melanie Doyle, Joanne Thompson, Meera Balarajan (NatCen); Robin Darton (PSSRU at Kent); Adelina Comas-Herrera, Catherine Henderson, Derek King, Amritpal Rehill, Raphael Wittenberg (PSSRU at LSE); Ruth Hancock, Marcello Morciano (UEA)

Start year:

2012

End year:

2015

Funder:

Partners:

NatCEN UEA

Earlier research to develop improved survey questions on older people’s receipt of, and payment for, formal and informal care, for use in population surveys led to short and long versions of a new module of questions. The short version has been included in the government’s Health Survey for England (HSE) from 2011 onward. This study aims to include the long version in 2013 HSE, undertaking policy-relevant analysis using the 2011, 2012 and 2013 HSE and modelling the costs of policy scenarios.

The overarching aim for this study is to conduct analyses to help policy makers weigh up the merits of reforms to funding system for care and support of older people (aged 65 and over), against addressing unmet need and reforming the nature of care and its delivery. Detailed analyses of the new HSE data will be undertaken, guided by four themes: (1) patterns of informal care given to and received by older people; (2) the relationship between receipt of formal care, informal care and care needs among older people; (3) the pattern of take-up of Direct Payments and Personal Budgets by older people; and (4) user payments for state care and the targeting of state-funded care and disability benefits for older people according to financial and care needs. The analyses will be used to devise scenarios on changing patterns of care and reforms to the funding of home care and investigate their public expenditure effects using our existing models of long-term care finance.

The study will be conducted in three stages: analysing HSE 2011 and 2012; collecting data through HSE 2013; analysing HSE 2013 and modelling the impact of scenarios on public expenditure. Both analysis stages will include dissemination.

Publications

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