Setting priorities for social care research in Wales Top 10 priorities

1. Does early care planning and/or early or regular contact by social care services, help prevent problems and result in better experiences for older people than waiting until there is a crisis?
2. How can we reduce isolation and stress amongst carers of older people and prevent burn-out?
3. How can social care and health services, including the voluntary sector, work together more effectively to meet the needs of older people?
4. How can social care for older people be tailored to the interests and needs of individuals, including better involvement in decisions about their own care?
5. How can social care best support older people with complex needs (e.g. people who need support from a range of health and social care services)?
6. How can social care for older people be funded in a sustainable way?
7. What barriers do older people experience in accessing services (e.g. access to information, waiting times, access to online technology, communication, costs)? How can access be improved?
8. 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?
9. How can social care for older people be kept at a consistent high quality?
10. How can home and community-based social care enable older people to socialise, reducing loneliness and isolation?

The following questions were also discussed and put in order of priority at the workshop:

11. How can social care for older people be made flexible enough to respond to changing needs and emergencies?
12. How does the setting in different parts of Wales (e.g. the availability of transport and accommodation) affect how well older people can live independently?
13. How can respite for carers of older people be improved?
14. What are the benefits to older people of receiving continuous support from the same paid care workers? How can this best be achieved?
15. What has been learnt about how best to support older people during the Covid pandemic, and what should be prioritised for the future?