Setting priorities for social care research in Wales Top 10 priorities
- 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?
- How can we reduce isolation and stress amongst carers of older people and prevent burn-out?
- How can social care and health services, including the voluntary sector, work together more effectively to meet the needs of older people?
- 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?
- 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)?
- How can social care for older people be funded in a sustainable way?
- 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?
- 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?
- How can social care for older people be kept at a consistent high quality?
- 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:
- How can social care for older people be made flexible enough to respond to changing needs and emergencies?
- 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?
- How can respite for carers of older people be improved?
- What are the benefits to older people of receiving continuous support from the same paid care workers? How can this best be achieved?
- What has been learnt about how best to support older people during the Covid pandemic, and what should be prioritised for the future?