Personalisation of home care for older people using managed personal budgets
Researchers: Parvaneh Rabiee, Kate Baxter, Susan Clarke, Caroline Glendinning
Funder: NIHR School for Social Care Research
Duration: January 2011 – December 2012
Background
Personal budgets (PBs) are a mechanism for facilitating personalisation of social care services and are being rolled out to all adults in England who are eligible for social care. They can be taken as a cash direct payment; as funds held in a local authority or other accounts held by providers; or a mixture of the two. Where some or all of the PB is held in a local authority or a provider account, it is known as a ‘managed personal budget’. With some people managing their own PBs and others using managed PBs, the question is whether benefits in the form of greater choice and control will be available to all. It is important that people using managed PBs are not excluded from receiving personalised and flexible support, or having control over that support, merely because they do not wish to manage their budget.
Aims
This study aims to explore factors affecting the delivery of personalised support to older service users who opt for managed personal budgets. To achieve this, the study will:
- identify innovative practices in local authority contracts, reimbursement and monitoring, and explore how effective these changes are in enabling choice, control and flexibility
- explore the roles played by support planners as intermediaries in shaping the expectations that PB holders have and the demands they make on providers
- explore home care provider responses to changes in contracts and user demand
- assess the effectiveness of new contracting and support planning arrangements in creating opportunities for choice and control, from the perspectives of older managed PB holders.
Methodology
The study will use a range of qualitative methods of data collection and analysis from three study sites in England. The methods include documentary analysis; semi-structured interviews with commissioning or contracts managers, home care agency managers and service users; and focus group discussions with support planners.
Policy and practice implications
Managed PBs are in the early stages of development but are likely to become widespread as local authorities strive to meet policy objectives for greater numbers of people using personal budgets. The study’s findings will be of direct relevance not just for local authority-based practitioners, but for all practitioners of social care (including independent support planners and managers of provider organisations), as well as holders of managed PBs. The research project will inform practice about the most effective ways in which commissioning or contracts managers, agency managers and support planners can enable choice and flexibility of social care support for people opting not to manage their own personal budgets.
The study findings will be available in late 2012.
Presentations
2012
Personalisation of home care for older people using managed personal budgets
Baxter, K., NIHR School for Social Care Research Personalisation Research Workshop, London School of Economics, London, 6 February 2012.
If you require further information about the project, please contact Parvaneh Rabiee 
