Better Care Moves for Older People
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding and supporting older people’s ‘transition’ between different care settings: co-production of practice guidance for social care practitioners
IRAS ID
300025
Contact name
Wenjing Zhang
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Kent
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Moving (transition) between care settings in later life is challenging for older people but also sometimes unavoidable. Transition is not only a physical move between care settings, but also a life event with social, psychological and emotional aspects. This can affect the well-being and identity of older people and highlights the needs and vulnerability of older people in transition.
Social care practitioners have a significant role in supporting older people and their families in transitions, but may lack understanding of the needs of older people and their carers. However, there is a lack of practice guidance in England on how to improve services and support pre-, during, and post transitions.
Our project aims to provide practitioners, older people, unpaid carers (e.g. family and friends) and local decision makers with clear evidence and practice guidance for supporting older people’s transitions into and between different social care settings.
In this research we will:
• Review and synthesise key "factors" that structure older people's movement decisions, what their key (unmet) transition-related needs are and the approaches used by social care practitioners in supporting the transition;
• Interview social care practitioners, older people and unpaid carers with lived experience of transitions (or supporting transitions) between social care settings/services (e.g. home care, care homes or extra-care housing) or from hospital into social care settings.
• Produce, in partnership with older people, their carers and social care practitioners, guidance through practitioner and public engagement, grounded in real-life experience;
• Hold four half-day workshops for this co-production work, which will bring older people, unpaid carers, social care practitioners and researchers together to identify and prioritise the key gaps in transitions.The co-produced guidance will be publicly available and shared through our networks to reach care providers and their staff, advisory/consumer organisations as well as local authorities.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/WM/0201
Date of REC Opinion
28 Oct 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion