Care Act Supporting Carers
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Supporting carers following the implementation of the Care Act 2014: eligibility, support and prevention
IRAS ID
225734
Contact name
Jose-Luis Fernandez
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London School of Economics and Political Science
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
The Care Act 2014 gave carers in England new rights to assessment of their needs and clarified their entitlements to public support. It aimed to make support for carers more consistent and accessible.
This study aims to investigate whether and how these aims are being achieved. It explores:
• How do English local authorities identify, assess and respond to the needs of carers?
• What are the costs and outcomes of different forms of support for carers?This 30-month study will use a combination of research methods to answer these questions. There are three main strands:
1. Mapping and evaluation of the ways local authorities identify, assess and support carers. This will involve (a) an evaluation of information from local authority and other services’ websites; (b) secondary data analysis of local authority information sent to NHS Digital
2. Case studies in different local authorities to acquire more in-depth information about carer services, using analysis of information already collected and interviews with key staff
3. Building on an earlier study of care and employment which collected questionnaire and interview data on services and carers’ employment in 2013 and 2015. We will send these carers a follow-on survey and conduct follow-on interviews with a sample of them. This longitudinal data (collected at more than one point in time) will enable us to look at how carers were supported – and the outcomes of this support - before and after the Care Act.REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
17/IEC08/0029
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jul 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion