Linked data research in adult social care

Why we chose this as one of our priority-setting exercises

We think it’s important to make use of data that’s already collected to inform and improve social care policy and practice. This was set out in the research and development strategy for Wales 2018 to 2023 launched by Social Care Wales and Health and Care Research Wales. And it’s in our research, innovation and improvement strategy Ymlaen (2024 to 2029).

We carried out this exercise as part of our role as social care theme lead for the ADR Wales programme of work.

We focused on adult social care because the work carried out with children’s social care linked data was already more advanced. 

How can linking data provide research opportunities?

Linking adult social care data from across Wales with other data sources (for example in health or housing) can help us understand more about the needs and issues people have. When we link data, it gives us a more complex and comprehensive picture at a population level than a single data set can provide.

Our priority-setting exercise focused on data that’s relevant to the adult social care sector. It’s data that’s already widely and routinely collected and can be de-identified, which means there’s no way to identify individuals.

Linking this data could help us ask questions about things like:

• who is accessing social care services
• patterns of access between social care services and other services like healthcare
• identified needs that are not currently being met
• current and future demand on workforce and resources
• the role of unpaid carers and volunteers
• outcomes for people accessing care and support like their physical or mental health and well-being.

The exercise helped us identify how linked data research can shape future policy decisions and make a positive difference to those accessing care and support as well as for the social care workforce.

How was the exercise carried out?

We brought together a range of stakeholders including organisations that routinely collect data, people with lived experience of care and support, social care practitioners, third sector partners, researchers and policy makers.

We used different methods of engagement, including surveys, focus groups, workshops and interviews to identify 10 priority areas for linked data research. And we set up a working group to help shape and steer the exercise.

We checked to see where research had already been carried out and then asked our stakeholders to review the themes that remained and choose a shortlist. We made this process as accessible as possible to include a wide range of views.

A final workshop was independently led to help us develop a consensus for the top 10 research priority themes.

Who helped us carry out this work?

We set up a working group to explore how we can use linked data research to answer questions about what adult social care people in Wales need. 

The group included representatives from local authorities, third sector, Welsh Government, academia, a member of the public and a prioritisation specialist.

The working group met regularly to review and shape progress along each step of the priority-setting exercise.

We also asked specific groups to share their views with us. For example, we asked data owners and experts for possible research questions generated by the data that’s already available and collected in a usable way. We also asked them to identify barriers or challenges they’ve experienced within adult social care services in Wales that linked data could help address.

We also wanted to hear from people with lived experience. This meant talking to people who access care and support as well as frontline staff who work in the sector. We wanted to learn about the issues they faced and feed these into the scope of the project as part of researchable questions that could be answered using linked data.

The outcomes: the 'top 10'

At the end of the process we arrived at a ‘top 10’ of research priorities for linked data research on adult social care. 

The final 10 themes can be found here: Top 10 research priorities: linked data research in adult social care.