Priority 8 for Setting priorities for social care research in Wales

UNCERTAINTY: How can terms and conditions, including wages, be improved for staff providing social care to older people? Will this attract more people to the profession?  (Priority 8)
Overall ranking 8
JLA question ID 0102/8
Explanatory note Older people and carers suggested improving conditions so staff would be less stressed and grumpy. Practitioners wondered whether increasing pay would attract more people to care work, keep them in post and give the profession greater societal value – the reverse currently being true with low pay rates.
Evidence

A systematic review evaluating the impact of paid home carer training, supervision, and other interventions on the health and well-being of older home care clients. COOPER Claudia, et al International Psychogeriatrics, 29(4), 2017, pp.595-604. ~ Effective dementia education and training for the health and social care workforce: a systematic review of the literature. SURR Claire A., et al Review of Educational Research, 87(5), 2017, pp.966-1002.
Health Research Classification System category Generic health relevance 
Extra information provided by this project
Original uncertainty examples Less stressed, tired and grumpy carers , better pay , terms and conditions for carers ~ Train and employ properly qualified staff.  ~ How can the funding and wages be improved for those working in social care? ~ The training that is required for effective and efficient care, taking the human side into consideration - not just cleaning and nutrition. ~ Currently, care workers are paid minimum wage and therefore discourages people to consider caring as a profession; how can we address this issue to encourage more educated people to consider the caring field? 
Submitted by 1 x older person,  1x carer, 10 x practitioners, 1 x other 
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