Social care - defining, evidencing and improving: mixed-methods qualitative study

2. Summary

• This qualitative research study explored how evidence-informed understandings of 'good' social care can be embedded into the design, implementation and continuous improvement of the National Care Service.
• Twenty stakeholders participated in individual interviews to share their experiences of, and opinions about, using evidence to inform policy, using the 'My Health, My Care, My Home - Healthcare Framework for Adults Living in Care Homes' (hereafter referred to as the Healthcare Framework) as a case study.
• Sixty-four stakeholders participated in two creative research workshops to define 'good' social care, discuss how it can be evidenced, and to co-create a distinctly social care vision for improvement.
• Study participants comprised people with lived experience of social care, people working in frontline and managerial social care roles, people working in healthcare, people working for professional, regulatory and improvement bodies, academic researchers and policymakers.
• Analysis of the interview and workshop data were combined to generate the "3Rs" model (see Figure 1: 3Rs Model), which identifies three core characteristics that define 'good' social care:
  • Respectful – we recognise that care, evidence and improvement are all founded on an unwavering respect for humanity and the personhood of people using and providing social care.
  • Responsive – we recognise that care, evidence and improvement all require flexibility and responsiveness to complexity, individuality and change.
  • Relational – we recognise that care, evidence and improvement all take place within multi-directional relationships between people using, providing, overseeing and evaluating social care.
• The "3Rs" model demonstrates how these defining characteristics of 'good' social care can be operationalised in how we design and deliver good social care, how we evidence it, and how it is improved.
• The "3Rs" model is a research-informed visual tool that can be used practically to support conversations and decisions about how to design, evidence and improve social care in Scotland.
• The research also provides insight into the process of evidence-informed policy making and supporting effective communication between policymakers and people using and working in social care.