Developing a Decision Aid for Older People Who Pay for Social Care

Making informed decisions about social care in later life can be challenging and emotional, particularly for self-funders who organise and pay for care, often with little or no statutory support. Decision aids can guide complex decision making by bringing together information and associated risks a...

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Main Authors: Lyndsay Lindley, Maxine Watkins, Dawn Dowding, Louise Overton, Alannah Friend, Mark Wilberforce, Yvonne Birks
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: LSE Press 2025-05-01
Series:Journal of Long-Term Care
Subjects:
Online Access:https://account.journal.ilpnetwork.org/index.php/lse-j-jltc/article/view/406
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author Lyndsay Lindley
Maxine Watkins
Dawn Dowding
Louise Overton
Alannah Friend
Mark Wilberforce
Yvonne Birks
author_facet Lyndsay Lindley
Maxine Watkins
Dawn Dowding
Louise Overton
Alannah Friend
Mark Wilberforce
Yvonne Birks
author_sort Lyndsay Lindley
collection DOAJ
description Making informed decisions about social care in later life can be challenging and emotional, particularly for self-funders who organise and pay for care, often with little or no statutory support. Decision aids can guide complex decision making by bringing together information and associated risks and benefits. This project aimed to create such a resource to support self-funders in navigating social care planning and funding. A prototype decision aid, Care Confidence, was co-designed with involvement of self-funders, carers and professionals, including care providers, information and advice services, later life advisers and others whom self-funders approach for information. The methods, adapted from design of patient decision aids in clinical settings, involved scoping and consultation, development workshops, and iterative testing and modification. This paper discusses the application of these methods in relation to the striking complexities of decision making in social care, particularly for self-funders. The resulting digital decision aid provides information on care options and funding strategies, as well as generating a user-centred action plan that empowers self-funders and their supporters to make confident, informed decisions about care. The development of this unique decision aid contributes to improving the evidence-informed support available to self-funders in England. In relation to accessibility, Care Confidence would benefit from further research to address language and digital exclusion of self-funders and scope to implement the resource in adult social care and third sector providers.
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spelling doaj-art-215f8910b0e54976ad84cc027b35f0742025-08-20T02:30:13ZengLSE PressJournal of Long-Term Care2516-91222025-05-0110.31389/jltc.406Developing a Decision Aid for Older People Who Pay for Social CareLyndsay Lindley0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5982-9679Maxine Watkins1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1080-661XDawn Dowding2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5672-8605Louise Overton3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3757-4257Alannah Friend4https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5166-6127Mark Wilberforce5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6977-4483Yvonne Birks6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4235-5307School for Business and Society, University of YorkSchool of Social Policy and Society, University of BirminghamDivision of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, School of Health Sciences, University of ManchesterSchool of Social Policy and Society, University of BirminghamSchool for Business and Society, University of YorkSchool for Business and Society, University of YorkSchool for Business and Society, University of York Making informed decisions about social care in later life can be challenging and emotional, particularly for self-funders who organise and pay for care, often with little or no statutory support. Decision aids can guide complex decision making by bringing together information and associated risks and benefits. This project aimed to create such a resource to support self-funders in navigating social care planning and funding. A prototype decision aid, Care Confidence, was co-designed with involvement of self-funders, carers and professionals, including care providers, information and advice services, later life advisers and others whom self-funders approach for information. The methods, adapted from design of patient decision aids in clinical settings, involved scoping and consultation, development workshops, and iterative testing and modification. This paper discusses the application of these methods in relation to the striking complexities of decision making in social care, particularly for self-funders. The resulting digital decision aid provides information on care options and funding strategies, as well as generating a user-centred action plan that empowers self-funders and their supporters to make confident, informed decisions about care. The development of this unique decision aid contributes to improving the evidence-informed support available to self-funders in England. In relation to accessibility, Care Confidence would benefit from further research to address language and digital exclusion of self-funders and scope to implement the resource in adult social care and third sector providers. https://account.journal.ilpnetwork.org/index.php/lse-j-jltc/article/view/406Decision aidCo-designSocial careSelf-fundersShared decision making
spellingShingle Lyndsay Lindley
Maxine Watkins
Dawn Dowding
Louise Overton
Alannah Friend
Mark Wilberforce
Yvonne Birks
Developing a Decision Aid for Older People Who Pay for Social Care
Journal of Long-Term Care
Decision aid
Co-design
Social care
Self-funders
Shared decision making
title Developing a Decision Aid for Older People Who Pay for Social Care
title_full Developing a Decision Aid for Older People Who Pay for Social Care
title_fullStr Developing a Decision Aid for Older People Who Pay for Social Care
title_full_unstemmed Developing a Decision Aid for Older People Who Pay for Social Care
title_short Developing a Decision Aid for Older People Who Pay for Social Care
title_sort developing a decision aid for older people who pay for social care
topic Decision aid
Co-design
Social care
Self-funders
Shared decision making
url https://account.journal.ilpnetwork.org/index.php/lse-j-jltc/article/view/406
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