Reimagining collective forms of day care provision for older people

Ailsa Cameron In progress  


Day care services for older people in England are often seen as outdated and unattractive to potential users. Policy makers have consistently prioritised the importance of all social care services being personalised around the needs of individuals rather than providing services directly to groups of older people. However, there is growing recognition that many older people would welcome the opportunity to attend day care services if they were available. In addition, there is increasing awareness that collective forms of day care have the potential to address the needs of some older people more appropriately, for example older people experiencing isolation or living with complex, multiple health conditions.


This study aims to explore the current role, and potential role, of collective forms of day care for older people (65+) in England by

  1. Establishing trends and patterns over time in the provision and use of local authority funded collective forms of day care
  2. Determining the key predictors of use and frequency of use of day care services, and personal (subjective) wellbeing of users of day care services, over time
  3. Exploring innovative models of local authority funded provision by undertaking in-depth case studies in a sample of local authorities
  4. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses associated with these models of provision, including the impact they have on personal wellbeing outcomes, and identify the wider implications these have for policy and practice development
  5. Contributing to broader discussions about the role of local authority funded day care in meeting policy objectives across the social care and health sectors, including their role in the post COVID-19 social care landscape.


This mixed method study has two elements:

  • secondary data analysis of existing data sets
  • in-depth qualitative case studies of exemplar/ innovative day care services.

The study focuses on collective day care services for adults aged 65+.


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