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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
Prof
Debora
Price
debora.price@manchester.ac.uk
Prof
Debora
Price
debora.price@manchester.ac.uk
This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.
Older carers (over 70) with partners with dementia living at home are facing extreme challenges under Covid-19, with withdrawal of services, restrictions on movement and high risks of illness and death. Some of those living with dementia cannot retain information about what is happening, and are frustrated or distressed. Yet this group of carers is often invisible, and has received very little attention in the pandemic. Schedule 12 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 included the unprecedented power for local authorities to suspend the majority of their adult social care duties under the Care Act 2014. The suspensions are known as “easements”. Eight local authorities triggered easements at the height of the pandemic, and many others withdrew services nevertheless. We know very little about the consequences for people with high levels of need, nor about the needs and challenges facing local authorities and those charged with safeguarding during this very difficult time.
This NIHR-funded research investigates these issues. We aim to compare experiences in different local authorities for older carers, and for safeguarding and social work leads, who were making difficult decisions in crisis circumstances. Through doing this we seek to understand in a balanced way the social impacts and legal implications of this suspension of legal rights. The research is being conducted in close collaboration with partners TIDE and Making Space to ensure that the research at all stages is driven by the lived experience of carers. We plan to interview in depth 48 older carers across four different local authorities (two which triggered easements and two which did not) and twenty safeguarding and social work leads, about their experiences. Drawing on this analysis we plan to survey 500 older carers, to scale up our findings and provide a substantial evidence base for government, individuals and organisations.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Observational type: Case-controlled study;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
Participants that will be excluded from the study include: • Those who lack capacity to give consent; and • Those who are self-funding.
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
The study is sponsored by University of Manchester and funded by NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) .
Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.
Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 49911
You can print or share the study information with your GP/healthcare provider or contact the research team directly.
