Unmet needs in social care among older people are widespread

Over half of older people with care needs have unmet needs, a new report has found.

The report, conducted by Ipsos MORI and partners, highlights the experiences of unmet need for care among older people living in their own homes. It comes as an increasingly ageing population and cuts to budgets place pressure on services.

The report found that unmet need affects people eligible for local authority support as well as those who are responsible for funding their own care and support, unmet needs can be hidden where older people look to cope with their care needs and some support is precarious or unreliable, and linked to this is unmet need for social contact and involvement in activities.

It also found that those who live alone are particularly vulnerable as they lack the social and practical support offered by a co-resident carer. Older people show resilience and independence, not wanting to be a burden to others. This, as well as difficulty finding out about and accessing services, is associated with not accessing all the support which is available.

In-depth interviews included in the report showed that unmet need and well-being are linked in complicated ways: unmet needs are linked to serious impacts on well-being for some people including feeling frustrated and a loss of purpose; the links between unmet need and well-being appear to be related to social isolation and mobility; there are well-being benefits from retaining independence and managing without help even when facing difficulties.

The report says that meeting needs and maintaining well-being is about more than providing care services - access to suitable transport, housing and adaptations, and social and community networks can help people in meeting their care needs and maintaining well-being.

The report was funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research and conducted in collaboration with NatCen Social Research, Age UK and Independent Age.

Margaret Blake, Research Director at Ipsos MORI, said: “This research shows that the causes of unmet needs for care and support are wide-ranging, and that lack of local authority funding is only one part of the problem.

“Having timely access to information and advice, being able to plan ahead and save for future care needs, knowing how to access care and support services and understanding that they can have an empowering role in maintaining independence, all have a significant role to play in reducing unmet needs.”

Janet Morrison, chief executive of charity Independent Age, said: “This research highlights how widespread unmet care needs now are in the older population with huge consequences for people’s sense of worth, but also their mobility and ability to remain socially connected.

“With around half of all older people with care needs now experiencing at least some level of unmet need we need to radically rethink as a country how we are caring for and supporting some of the most vulnerable members of our society. There is a human cost to continuing down our current path.

“To avoid a future where ever growing numbers of older people end up housebound, coping alone or living their last years lonely and isolated, the government needs to urgently come forward with clear proposals for reforming social care. A consultation has been promised, but older people and their families now need to see some action.”

Allison Dunatchik, researcher at NatCen Social Research, said: “The findings from our research show that a significant proportion of older people have social care needs that are simply not being met. Moreover, our new way of measuring and defining unmet need, based on the national framework laid out in the Care Act 2014, suggests that the scale of it may be greater than previously thought, affecting individuals across age groups and financial circumstances.”

Responding to the report Izzi Seccombe, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Adult social care is at a tipping point. The huge financial pressures councils are under means they are barely managing to provide the care services that support those in greatest need. Yet this report reveals a further and wider area of unmet need and highlights why any proposals to reform social care must include a strong focus on prevention and early intervention services.

“Investing in prevention is vital if we are to support people to live independently in the community and avoid the need for more expensive ongoing care and support in future. Adult social care needs to be about much more than just helping people to get washed or dressed, but to enable them to live fulfilling and independent lives.

“The £2 billion announced by the previous government in the spring budget was a step in the right direction.

“But now the Government urgently needs to bring forward its consultation for social care announced in the Queen’s Speech, and set out how it will close the £2.3 billion funding gap facing social care by 2020, and deliver a long-term sustainable solution.”