Priority 11 for Setting priorities for social care research in Wales

UNCERTAINTY: How can social care for older people be made flexible enough to respond to changing needs and emergencies?  (Priority 11)
Overall ranking 11
JLA question ID 0102/11
Explanatory note Older people and carers asked whether services could be more flexible and meet needs as they arise e.g. being able to take an older person to a hospital appointment if they have no one else to take them.  Practitioners raised questions about how services can respond when there is an urgent problem for an older person living alone e.g. if they can’t change a light bulb or collect their pension.  
Evidence

No evidence identified 
Health Research Classification System category Generic health relevance 
Extra information provided by this project
Original uncertainty examples More flexibility in care packages allowing occasional changes to be made  such as carers accompanying people to hospital appointments, as increasingly people have no family support locally to do this. ~ What response is there for emergency situations that arise when someone is living alone independently eg .changing light bulbs, getting their pension, mending their technology, maintaining their home, finding new friends when old ones die, being taken seriously when they feel unwell? 
Submitted by  1 x carer, 1 x practitioner
Project information
Project unique ID 0102
Project name Setting priorities for social care research in Wales
Total number of uncertainties identified by this project. 35  (To see a full list of all uncertainties identified, please see the detailed spreadsheet held on the JLA website)
Date of priority setting workshop 16 & 17 September 2020