Research estimates hidden social care demand for working-age Disabled people
First-ever estimate reveals the scale of working-age unmet need in England. Healthwatch England’s Chief Executive Louise Ansari calls for more support for services that help Disabled people live independently.
Earlier this year, we surveyed over 1500 Disabled adults about their experiences of using social care. What we uncovered was both heartening and a call to action for government and social care leaders across England.
Social care can be transformative for people when they receive it. More than three-quarters of those we spoke to who receive support shared how social care was a game-changer for them, enabling them to live the lives they want to through practising good self-care, staying active and healthy, being able to work and volunteer, and maintaining healthy social connections.
But they have to get it in the first place.
Our research uncovered the scale of unmet need nationwide. According to our estimates, up to 1.5 million working-age disabled people in England could benefit from social care support but are not accessing it. However, the extent to which eligibility might apply to more Disabled people will remain unknown until people can easily interact with social care services or access assessments.
Until then, too many people will continue to struggle to do things in their lives as quickly, independently and safely as they like, with a significant impact on their wellbeing.
Our research underlines that one in three Disabled people would like to be supported to visit restaurants, cafes, and pubs or spend time with friends or family. A slightly higher figure (37%) want to go to music or sports events, the theatre or cinema. Being able to take part in these types of activities can make a massive difference to a person’s wellbeing.
Then why are so many people not getting this vital support?
Unfortunately, despite the invaluable support social care services provide to people, the system is under financial strain and facing a workforce crisis, including difficulties retaining staff and providing adequate remuneration and recognition for social care workers.
Meanwhile, unpaid carers need more recognition for their contributions to helping others and to get the right type of support to continue helping their friends and family members. This means reviewing the Carer’s Allowance and ensuring better access to support—not just for their friend or loved one but also for themselves.
However, more money and workers can’t fix the social care crisis if people don’t know how to get care in the first place. Many people, through no fault of their own, don’t know how to ask for care or what type of support they are entitled to. More visibility of services and how to access them is clearly a step towards plugging this information gap.
What comes next?
The challenges facing social care services are complex and vast. There’s not a simple fix to the problems facing social care services, but there are steps that this government can take to help reach people who need help but aren’t getting it. We are calling of the government to:
Fund local authorities to raise public awareness and find potentially eligible individuals through proactive outreach
People are more likely to speak to their GP than their local authority about social care support. And even when people do know where to go, in many cases, the system is complex and difficult to navigate. Either way, the result is the same: people miss out on support that could have a substantial positive impact on their lives.
Knowing where to get help if they want it is a crucial starting point for many people’s social care journeys. Therefore, the government must fund local authorities to help raise public awareness of social care services and make them easier to understand and access. More must still be done to ensure people don’t fall through the cracks, including finding potentially eligible people through proactive outreach in local communities.
Make the system easier to navigate and understand
People who experience difficulties understanding, retaining or using information from their needs assessment are currently offered access to an advocate under the Care Act.
We want to see investment to ensure all Disabled people accessing social care assessments are offered a Care Act advocate who can help them understand the assessment process and their rights.
Louise Ansari visiting Islington.
We need to ensure that more high-quality support is available for Disabled people and is easy to understand and access. This will ensure people are involved in decisions about their lives and can achieve the outcomes they want to.
Long term reform of social care
In the long term, the government should aspire to develop a fully funded plan to reform social care to make life-changing help more accessible to people who need it. This should include a plan to improve support for carers, both paid and unpaid, who sacrifice so much to help others.
Skills for Care have developed a 15-year workforce plan, and we want to see their plans funded and implemented by government and local authorities.
And to support unpaid carers, Carer’s Allowance must be reformed to increase the total benefit provided, move away from the earnings limit, and give more support to those caring for multiple people, those in work or full-time education, and families where multiple members provide unpaid care.
Images: Josh Appel and Markus Spiske
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