MiCare HQ

Over 425,000 older people in England live in care homes due to significant long-term health problems. To ensure the quality of care provided and inform public choice, homes are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Care home quality varies for many reasons but the nature and characteristics of the workforce, and their approaches to care, are likely to be major determinants.

This project, which ran between July 2017 and August 2020, was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Programme [15/144/51], and was a collaboration between the University of Kent, the University of Sussex, and Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

Specifically, it aimed to:

• Measure the health and social care-related quality of life of care home residents, including those who cannot self-report.
• Assess how far regulator quality ratings are consistent with indicators of residents’ care-related quality of life.
• Assess how much the skill mix and employment conditions of the care workforce matter for quality, including factors such as training provision, staff turnover rates and wages.

The aims of the study were addressed through a mixed-methods design, involving three interlinked work packages, which together:

• Developed and tested new domains of pain, anxiety and low mood that could be used alongside the care home version of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT)
• Undertook primary data collection to measure the social care-related quality of life of older care home residents and examined the relationship with CQC quality ratings.
• Undertook secondary data analysis of a nationally representative sample of care homes over time to assess the impact of staffing and employment conditions on CQC quality ratings.

The National Institute of Health Research has study protocols on their website, they are available to download at the bottom of the following page: https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/15/144/51