National Care Service - adult social care: equality evidence review

1. Introduction

This paper presents an overview of evidence related to equality in adult social care in Scotland. It focuses on groups with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, as well as those who experience socio-economic disadvantage. The purpose of this overview is to bring together key data sources and national statistics, where these are available. It does not provide exhaustive or fully comprehensive coverage of all social care services but provides an insight into how caring and use of social care services and support vary by equality groups and socio-economic status. The focus is on adult social care but data that covers all age groups is indicated throughout. In addition, the paper draws on other national evidence to provide insights into variations in usage and experiences for groups with protected characteristics and those who experience socioeconomic disadvantage.

For each of the protected characteristics, evidence is presented separately in relation to the experiences of people who access social care, unpaid carers, and social care workers. However, it should be noted that these are not distinct groups in practice; for example, people who access social care themselves may also be providing unpaid care for others, and some unpaid carers are also employed as social care workers.

This paper forms one of an initial collection of contextual papers, setting out key sources of information about social care and related areas in Scotland, linking to the National Care Service Consultation proposals published in August 2021.

The collection consists of the following 6 papers on adult social care:

1. Scotland’s Health and Demographic Profile

2. People who Access Social Care and Unpaid Carers in Scotland

3. Social Care Support and Service Provision in Scotland

4. Experiences of Social Care and Caring in Scotland

5. The Adult Social Care Workforce in Scotland

6. Adult Social Care in Scotland - Equality Evidence Overview

And papers on:

7. Children’s Social Services

8. Justice Social Work in Scotland

9. Learning and evidence from national social care systems in Nordic and Scandinavian countries

10. Integrated Care Studies: The SCFNuka (Alaska) and Canterbury (New Zealand) Models

While the focus of this set of evidence papers is social care, there is an intrinsic link between social care and social work. Social work is a statutory role which involves assessing need, managing risk, and promoting and protecting the wellbeing of individuals and communities. Social care support is an umbrella term for adult, children’s and justice services which directly support people to meet their personal outcomes. A social work evidence paper is being prepared for publication in summer 2022.