Research priorities for homecare for older people: A UK multi‐stakeholder consultation

Abstract

Homecare is generally understood to refer to services that support people to continue living in their own homes. Older people are the primary users and many countries report an increase in the number using homecare services and greater spending on such provision, driven in part by investment in 'ageing in place' policies. Despite this, and reflecting social care more generally, homecare is relatively under-researched.However, in the UK at least, there is growing interest and investment in social care research. In order that this investment is not wasted, it is essential that research addresses what stakeholders identify as research priorities. This study reports work undertaken in the UK during 2021/22 to identify research priorities for homecare for older people, and a broad scoping of existing evidence. A two-stage consultation process was used. First, topic areas for research were identified through consultations with stakeholders. Second, a survey ascertained agreement and differences between groups regarding the relative importance of topic areas as research priorities. Over 50 people participated including older people (n = 7), family members (n = 11), homecare workers (n = 16), homecare providers (n = 9) and national policy, evidence and advocacy leads (n = 13). Twenty discrete research topic areas were identified. Only one topic area (Joint working between homecare and health services) was a 'Top 5' research priority for all stakeholder groups. Timely engagement with homecare and Workforce: recruitment and retention were 'Top 5' priorities for three stakeholder groups. Scoping of existing research indicates that topic areas receiving the most research attention to date are not among those identified as being of high priority for research. To our knowledge, this is the first time research priorities for homecare have been generated.

UK homecare providers’ views about, and experiences of, digitalisation: A national survey

“…The response rate was disappointing, likely reflecting multiple and pressing demands on owners/managers’ time, and perhaps also an unfamiliarity with research, either as a user of research evidence or as a research participant. 18 However, the achieved sample had a similar profile to national homecare providers in terms of business type, digitalisation and the proportion of public sector-funded and self-funded clients. 22 It also represents the wide range of homecare provider organisation sizes, with small, single operating base businesses represented as well as some of the main UK homecare chains.…”

“…To date, there has been little independent research into digital readiness in homecare and homecare providers’ attitudes, concerns and experiences of digitisation, 17 partly reflecting low levels of research on homecare more generally. 18 This paper reports findings from a survey of UK homecare providers (i.e., owners, managers) that collected data on: current information management systems and types of data collected; any plans to move to digital systems or change or improve existing digital systems, including perceived barriers to change; and their views on the possibility of a national dataset of homecare users for policy-making, commissioning and research purposes to which homecare providers would voluntarily contribute anonymised data. The survey also collected detailed data on the types of data routinely collected and the format in which they are recorded and stored.…”

Entrusting life to professionals: A phenomenological hermeneutical study of older persons' participation in prehospital emergency care involving municipal home care and ambulance services

“…Participation in care is a practice that care organisations are not sufficiently prepared for [1], and collaborative care involving municipal and regional organisations is urged as a research priority [18]. This study provides knowledge that supports organisational development and collaborative care in marginal situations to accommodate older persons' preferences for participation in care when experiencing acute illness at home.…”