The research involved individual semi-structured interviews with three different groups:
- People who have used social care services and are from either a South Asian or a White British background;
- People who provide unpaid care for someone who uses social care services and are from either a South Asian or a White British background;
- People who work for social care services, or for a care provider funded by social care services.
Participants in groups 1 and 2 were asked questions about their experiences with social care services, and whether there were any particular issues relating to culture, language, religion, or ethnicity. Participants in group 3 were asked about their experiences providing professional care to people from all backgrounds, and whether there were any particular issues relating to culture, language, religion, or ethnicity. Data collection took place in three local authorities in Hampshire, Southampton and Portsmouth. It therefore included a mix of rural and urban areas, areas of diverse socio-economic status, and areas of high and low ethnic minority density.
The key finding was that high satisfaction was related to the ability of service users and family carers to work together with professional care staff to achieve the level of care desired, and that this ability was developed through long experience with the social care system. Many participants developed this long experience through having arranged care for their own parents in the past, and were now arranging care for themselves or a spouse. People who had migrated to Britain without their own parents therefore had fewer opportunities than White British people to develop this experience. Therefore, the key factor related to satisfaction was not due to language barriers or religious differences, but actually to length of time in the country. Having said that, language barriers and religious differences did make a difference to day-to-day experiences of social care services.
Academics:
Department of Gerontology and Centre for Research on Ageing , University of Southampton
Principal Investigator: Dr Rosalind Willis
Co-Investigator: Professor Maria Evandrou
Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology , University of Southampton
Co-Investigator: Dr Pathik Pathak
Pensions Policy Institute, London
Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Dr Priya Khambhaita
Advisory Panel and Project Supporters:
Adult Services, Hampshire County Council
Adult Social Care, Portsmouth City Council
Adult Social Care, Southampton City Council
Age UK Southampton
BAME Health Group Southampton
Carers in Southampton
Carers Together
Eastleigh Borough Council
Equalities & Diversity Team, Portsmouth City Council
Friendship Centre, Portsmouth
Multicultural Link Group, Portsmouth
Portsmouth Race Equality Network Organisation (PRENO)
Portsmouth Carers’ Centre
SCA Group
Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Southampton
Solent NHS Trust CDW Service
University of Portsmouth
WEA Southern Region (Clovelly Centre), Southampton
Key project outputs:
CRA Briefing Paper 4
CRA Discussion Paper 1701
NIHR SSCR Findings summary
NIHR SSCR Project Proposal
Watch:
Dr Rosalind Willis presenting key findings from the ASC project at the NIHR SSCR annual conference, 8 April 2014, London School of Economics.
Dr Rosalind Willis presenting an 'Ageing Bite' on the British Society of Gerontology's Youtube channel.
Listen:
Dr Priya Khambhaita presenting findings from the ASC project on BBC London Radio on the Sunny and Shay show, 25 January 2015 and 5 February 2017.