National Care Service - people who access adult social care and unpaid carers: evidence

1. Introduction

This paper provides an overview of the key sources of evidence about people who access social care and unpaid carers in Scotland. It does not provide exhaustive or fully comprehensive coverage of all social care services but provides an insight into recent trends in social care use. The focus is on adult social care but data that covers all age groups is indicated throughout.

Social care support can be provided to people of all ages and encompasses a range of services. These can be provided in the home or wider community or in residential settings such as care homes. Unpaid carers also provide vital support to family, friends and neighbours. A person can become a carer at any time in their life and can care for more than one person. Unpaid carers may also be in paid employment.

This paper forms one of an initial collection of contextual evidence 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 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.