부산대학교 도서관

In this thesis, I present a narrative that describes and analyses the shifts in outcomes-based social care policy in England over the past decade. In the UK, adult social care refers to a range of long-term care support services, including home care and residential care. The thesis focuses on two broad themes: (1) the measurement of individual quality of life as an outcome of social care support. This includes individual quality of life of people who use social care services, and their carers. (2) The application of social care outcomes to inform policy and practice. The thesis comprises a selection of my published work from the PSSRU, University of Kent, over the past eight years. This research builds upon the initial development of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) by PSSRU colleagues. ASCOT is the only measure specifically designed to capture the quality of life outcomes of social care support. It was initially developed for use with older adults. My work contributes further knowledge of the measurement of outcomes of younger adults (<65 years) and those with mental health problems, as well as carers' outcomes. It also develops a range of approaches to the application of social care outcome data to inform policy and practice. This includes the potential use of outcomes data in secondary analysis of national-level datasets and other survey data, of the value of considering carer/care-recipient outcomes together (as 'dyads'), and also the potential to translate and cross-culturally adapt the tools to inform the development of policy and practice in other countries – specifically here, in Japan. The thesis examines the potential value of measuring and applying social care outcomes to inform decision-making (e.g. evaluation studies) and practice (e.g. needs assessment). There are, however, also limitations due to a range of practical, organisational, structural, financial and cultural differences in adult social care, compared to healthcare.