Determining Best Preventative Social Care Practice
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determining Best Preventative Social Care Practice in the Contexts of Older People Receiving Care and Support at Home and Those Living with Dementia
IRAS ID
301786
Contact name
Simon Read
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Swansea University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
This research explores how preventative social care is understood and enacted within a sample of regions (as determined by regional partnership board (RPB) structures) across Wales. This will specifically focus on the priority areas of i) older people receiving care and support at home, and ii) those living with dementia. Across several interlinked research phases, findings will contribute to the development of a theoretical toolkit offering an evidence-based perspective on how preventative social care should be conceptualised, defined and enacted, as well as what factors are associated with best practice. Based on evidence of existing inconsistency in this area, initial work will focus on how prevention is currently interpreted and implemented within each sampled locale, how this understanding came to form, and where distinct prevention initiatives are perceived to fit within the models of prevention outlined in legislation such as the Social Services and Well-being Act (Wales) and subsequent guidance, e.g. prevent > reduce > delay; primary (universal) > secondary (selective) > tertiary (indicated).
Subsequent ethnographic work will further develop these findings, exploring how NHS health boards, local authorities, GPs, third sector, voluntary and private organisations interact with one another to enact preventative work, how this filters through to staff on the ground, and ultimately how it is received by service users and their family members/carers. In doing so, the study will unpack the complexity associated with translating prevention policy into everyday reality, identifying examples of successful and unsuccessful practice and the conditions influencing this.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0004
Date of REC Opinion
14 Feb 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion