Background

Around 10 million unpaid carers in the UK provide support for friends and family. Homecare services play a critical role in helping to reduce the demands placed on carers, as well as promoting the wellbeing of the person receiving care. Despite the importance of homecare services, we know very little about who receives homecare and exactly what support they need.

Aims and objectives

This project aimed to:

• explore different perspectives on the quality of homecare (ranging from ‘good’ care to extreme cases of abuse) as seen by care recipients, unpaid carers, regulators, providers and commissioners;
• understand the theoretical and practical options available to family carers who want to express concerns about homecare;
• consider how data from homecare providers can contribute to assessing and monitoring care quality.

By asking these questions:

• What does quality of homecare mean to different people?
• How can data from homecare providers be effectively used to assess care quality?
• What methods do family carers of older people have for raising concerns about the quality of social care?
• What is known about how family carers of older people respond when they perceive the care on offer to be inadequate or harmful?

The methods used were: 

• A review of existing literature and stakeholder perspectives on homecare quality (including those from recipients, carers, providers, commissioners and regulators).
• A narrative review of different approaches to raising concerns about care quality.
• An exploratory study on how (and what) data from homecare providers can be used in assessing care quality.

Resources and further information

• Executive Summary: The meaning of ‘quality’ of homecare for older people: a scoping review (PDF)
• Webinar recording: Bridging Perspectives in Homecare (YouTube) 

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