Maximising the Value of Survey Data in Adult Social Care (MAX)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Maximising the Value of Survey Data in Adult Social Care (MAX)Project
IRAS ID
128880
Contact name
David Coombe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Kent
Research summary
All local authorities (LAs) in England are required to conduct annual surveys of their adult social care service users and biennial surveys of the informal carers they support. The results of these surveys, known as the Adult Social Care Survey (ASCS) and the Personal Social Services Survey of Carers in England (PSS SACE) respectively, are used to populate a number of the indicators within the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF). The Department of Health encourages LAs to use the ASCOF indicators to support local policy-making and service improvements.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that, despite the government’s intentions, not all LAs are making use of the survey data locally. Feedback from LAs suggests that this is partly to do with the complexity of the information collected from the surveys. The quality of life questions are much harder to interpret and act upon than process of care measures (e.g. whether care workers arrived on time) used in previous user surveys, and local analysts often lack the time and tools to invest in the detailed analysis required. As a result, some LA managers and practitioners are reported to disengage from the surveys.
This project aims to produce two toolkits, one for each survey, that will support local data analysts by simplifying the job of analysing and presenting the information from the ASCS and PSS SACE. All LAs in England will be invited to participate in the project and can chose to complete a short online survey and/or telephone interview, attend workshops, engage in more in-depth action research (max 2 sites) and/or submit documents for review.
It is hoped that these toolkits will help LAs to re-engage with the ASCS and PSS SACE, and make better use the results to guide local planning and decision making as the government intended.
REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
13/IEC08/0012
Date of REC Opinion
24 May 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion