We believe that developing and using good research and evidence about the impact and effectiveness, and cost of adult social care can help guide the implementation of care and support that will improve the wellbeing of people and their carers.
There has been significant innovation in social care, including, for example, reablement, personal budgets, housing and care, and initiatives under the integration umbrella, as well the development of person-centred care in care homes and home care. Nonetheless, the evidence-base remains significantly underdeveloped (especially on cost-effectiveness, at least compared to healthcare). We believe that whilst there are many great local social care innovations, there sometimes remains an opportunity to evaluate these innovations more fully, which would make it easier to decide whether they should be used routinely, by whom, and also whether they should be implemented elsewhere.
