NIHR School for Social Care Research Career Development Award

Principal investigator(s):
Stacey Rand
Team:
Stacey Rand
Start year:
2020
End year:
2021
Funder:
NIHR SSCR

NIHR School for Social Care Research Career Development Award
Stacey Rand

The NIHR SSCR career development award will be for the completion of a PhD by staff regulations (published works) at the University of Kent.

The thesis presents a narrative that describes and analyses the shifts in outcomes-based social care policy in England over the past decade. In the UK, adult social care refers to a range of long-term care support services, including home care and residential care. The thesis focuses on two broad themes:

  1. The measurement of individual quality of life (QoL) as an outcome of social care support. This includes individual QoL of people who use social care services, and their carers.
  2. The application of social care outcomes to inform policy and practice.

It comprises a selection of Stacey’s published work from the PSSRU, University of Kent, over the past eight years (see reference list) and builds upon the early stages of development of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) by PSSRU colleagues.

The ASCOT is the only measure specifically designed to capture the quality of life outcomes of social care support (www.pssru.ac.uk/ascot), which was initially developed for use with older adults, aged 65 years and older. The work presented in the thesis has contributed to knowledge of the social care outcome measurement of younger adults (<65 years), adults with mental health problems, and carers’ outcomes. It also develops a range of approaches to the application of social care outcome data to inform policy and practice. This includes the use of outcomes data in secondary analysis of national-level datasets and other survey data, of the value of considering carer/care-recipient outcomes together (as ‘dyads’), and translation and cross-cultural adaption to inform the development of policy and practice in other countries – specifically here, in Japan.

The thesis examines the potential value of measuring and applying social care outcomes to inform decision-making (e.g. evaluation studies) and practice (e.g. needs assessment). There are, however, also limitations due to a range of practical, organisational, structural, financial and cultural differences in adult social care, compared to healthcare.

In addition to the submission of the PhD thesis, the award also covers the development of other outputs to share the findings with a broader audience, including academics and social care practitioners (e.g. blog, journal article and webinar/conference presentation).

Disclaimer

This report is independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research School for Social Care Research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the NIHR SSCR, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

References

Rand S, Malley J, Forder J, Netten A (2015) Factor Structure and construct validity of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit for Carers (ASCOT-Carer), Quality of Life Research, 24 (11), 2601-2614
Rand S, Malley J, Vaden F, Forder J (2019) Measuring the outcomes of long-term care for unpaid carers: Comparing the EQ-5D-3L, the Carer Experience Scale and ASCOT-Carer INT4, Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 17 (184)
Rand S, Malley J, Towers A, Netten A, Forder J (2017) Validity and test-retest reliability of the self-completion adult social care outcomes toolkit (ASCOT-SCT4) with adults with long-term physical, sensory and mental health conditions in England, Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 15 (163)
Rand S, Vaden F, Forder J (2019) The impact of long-term care on carers’ quality of life, International Journal of Care and Caring (available online)
Rand S, Malley J (2014) Carers’ quality of life and experiences of adult social care support in England, Health and Social Care in the Community, 22 (4), 375-385
Yamaguchi M, Rand S (2019) Issues and Challenges in comparing Carers' Quality of Life in England and Japan: Findings from the Japanese translation of ASCOT-Carer, International Journal of Care and Caring, 3(3), 459-464
Rand S, Malley J, Forder J (2019) Are reasons for caregiving related to carers’ care-related quality of life and strain? Evidence from a survey of carers in England, Health and Social Care in the Community, 27(1)
Rand S & Malley J (2017) The factors associated with care-related Quality of Life of adults with Intellectual Disabilities in England: Implications for Policy and Practice, Health and Social Care in the Community, 25(5), 1607-1619
Rand S, Forder J, Malley J (2017) A study of dyadic interdependence of control, social participation and occupation of adults who use long-term care services and their carers, Quality of Life Research, 26 (12), 3307-3321

Publications

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