Evaluating social care
Personal Social Services Research Unit: Professor Ann Netten
Research at Kent has developed a new robust method that measures the quality of life for adults in social care by identifying factors such as dignity, control over daily life, safety, personal cleanliness, social participation, occupation, and food and drink. This led to the development of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT), which The Guardian described as a ‘new and valuable tool’ that would ‘shake up adult social care’.
Feedback from training has shown that the information gained using ASCOT changes the focus of care work and leads to improvements. It also helps researchers and service providers to judge whether provision is cost-effective. UK councils are making increased use of the toolkit, and there has been widespread interest from the international community. ASCOT has been translated into Italian, Danish, Finnish, Austrian and Dutch, and is also being translated into Japanese.
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