Towards understanding variations in social care for older people in England

Authors:
BRAND Christian, HUGHES Jane, CHALLIS David
Journal article citation:
Social Policy and Administration, 46(7), December 2012, pp.705-726.
Publisher:
Wiley

Drawing on multiple data sources, this article investigates the relationship between different indicators of public provision of old age social care. The study used the Performance Indicators Analytic Framework model, and explored process indicators of operational practice and how social services are organised and run, structural factors such as the characteristics of local authorities and populations, and indicators of performance. The analysis was based on selected factors within local authority social care services for older people in England in 2006/7. The article describes the study background, methodology, analysis and statistical modelling. It reports on the findings and discusses factors captured by area performance measures, the potential benefits of greater understanding of indicators, and interpretation of and response to area level performance. It concludes that structural factors beyond the control of local authorities play a major role in determining service outcomes, and explain a considerable share of observable variation between local authorities, and that the findings suggest that caution is necessary when aggregate indicators of service provision are used for performance monitoring purposes.

Subject terms:
local authorities, older people, performance indicators, performance management, social care, social care provision, data analysis;
Content type:
research
Location(s):
England
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN online:
1467-9515
ISSN print:
0144-5596

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