Scottish Government Equality Outcomes: Ethnicity Evidence Review

13 Social Care

13.1 The Scottish Government reports that in Scotland in the year to 31 March 2011, 99% of the people who received home care and whose ethnicity was known, were of white ethnicity¹²⁶. In that same year, 98% of the people who received Direct Payments and whose ethnicity was known, were of white ethnicity¹²⁷.

13.2 The Scottish Government's Health and Social Care Datasets¹²⁸ show the ethnic breakdown of clients for home care and telecare - see Figure 11. Telecare is the remote or enhanced delivery of care services to people in their own homes, by means of sensors or alerts which provide continuous, automatic and remote monitoring of care needs and emergencies using information and communication technology to trigger human responses.

Figure 11: Home and telecare clients by ethnic group, 2011. (Source: Health and Social Care Datasets)

13.3 The EHRC Triennial Review¹²⁹ (2011) offers more analysis of social care and ethnicity in England. The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing only reports differences between white and non-white respondents, but initial analysis conducted as part of the development of the Equality Measurement Framework indicated that a slightly higher proportion of white than non-white people (45% compared with 41%) reported that they received help which always or usually met their needs - although this result was found to be not statistically significant.

13.4 The Triennial Review also explores the cultural sensitivity of support services. Small-scale qualitative evidence in England¹³⁰ indicates that not all formal support services respect, understand and accept different cultural expectations. This may be in relation to family life and obligations, use of space within the home or religious obligations including those relating to self-care and domestic tasks.

13.5 The Triennial Review observes that there is little research evidence directly relating to social care services for older and disabled Gypsies/Travellers, although a small number of studies explore some of the cultural issues and barriers facing this group in relation to end of life care. One report¹³¹ finds that Gypsies/Travellers with health problems may find that their cultural needs, such as for the involvement of multiple family members in their care, are not always met by formal support services. Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment evidence indicates that in many cases older or disabled Gypsies and Travellers have had to wait considerable periods of time to obtain adaptations to their caravans on public sites.