Project 9: Equality of access to social care needs assessments in people with dementia and neurodegenerative diseases   

Background:

Social Care Needs Assessments help to provide access to vital social support for people living with dementia. They are conducted by Local Authority adult social care teams and are legally mandated under the Care Act. These assessments determine the level of support needed, such as home care or respite care, and whether the identified needs will be fully or partly funded by the Local Authority. There is currently a lack of evidence on the experiences and processes surrounding Social Care Needs Assessment for people living with dementia and their carers. One recent project showed that there can often be a lack of awareness of these assessments, why they are conducted, and the care and support that can be provided afterwards. We don’t yet understand how to ensure equity of access to these assessments or the commissioning and decision-making processes that surround them. 
 

Aims and objectives:

We want to explore the experiences of people living with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases in accessing Social Care Needs Assessments. We will use these insights to identify solutions that could make access to these assessments more equitable.  

Methods:

We will carry out semi-structured interviews with people living with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, their carers, and health and social care professionals. These interviews will explore participants’ experiences with Social Care Needs Assessments and identify potential barriers to accessing them.  

Policy relevance and dissemination:

Social Care Needs Assessments play a critical role in navigating people living with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases to the right support services. Understanding how these assessments function, including any barriers or inequalities in access, is vital to informing policy. We hope that our findings will be used to streamline the assessment process and support the health and well-being of people living with dementia and neurodegenerative conditions, and unpaid carers.  
 
The findings of this research will be disseminated through academic publications. We will also produce lay summaries and blogs to reach a wider audience, including individuals affected by dementia, carers, health and social care professionals, policymakers, and the public.