Better Care Moves for Older People

 “The findings from this project will help practitioners better understand the challenges older people and their carers experience when moving between care settings. Practitioners can use this understanding to provide more sensitive and person-centred support, maximising opportunities for successful transitions. The free online resources will provide accessible research and a single point of access to resources for practitioners to aid successful transitions.” 

 

Julia Greig, Social Worker

• Aims

  Our goal was to identify the experiences and expectations of older people and their carers during moves and to understand how social care practitioners currently support, or could better support, these transitions.

• Methods

  The ‘Better Care Moves for Older People’ project was led by a co-production group, including older people and family carers, social care practitioners and managers, and researchers. Alongside our co-production work, we conducted a literature review and interviews with eleven family carers, six older people and ten social care practitioners.

• Findings

  Findings report

  In this study, care transitions refer specifically to moves into and between social care services, such as care homes or extra care housing. These transitions present significant challenges for older people and their carers. Key principles to support these transitions:

  • Person-centred practice: tailoring support for individual needs.

  • Understanding care settings: Practitioners should be familiar with different types of care provisions, including their purpose and eligibility criteria.

  • Care for diversity: Moves may be more challenging for people with protected characteristics and should be handled with sensitivity.

  • Timely, clear information: Practitioners should provide comprehensive details on available options, discuss potential consequences, and outline a clear timeline, empowering older people and their carers to make informed, proactive decisions, leading to a smoother move

• Resources and publications

  Free co-produced materials

   

  These resources include an overview of why and how we need to improve move-related practices, an animated video illustrating the journey of care moves and messages derived from our interviews, literature review and co-production workshops on how to improve practice and better support staff.

   

  • Interview findings:  Zhang, W., Greig, J., Towers, A.-M., Saloniki, E.-C., & Darton, R. (2025). Supporting care transitions for older people: A practice-based qualitative study in England. The British Journal of Social Work, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcaf041

  • Literature review findings: Zhang, W., Greig, J., Darton, R., Saloniki, E.-C., & Towers, A.-M. (2024). Supporting older people’s moves between different care settings: A scoping review. Journal of Long Term Care, https://doi.org/10.31389/jltc.338
  • Greig, J., Zhang, W., Wortham, K., Webb, K., Saloniki, E.-C., Darton, R., Towers, A.-M., Salisbury, H., Richardson-Simmonds, J. & Leaver, S. (2026) A three-way partnership: reflections and lessons from co-producing social care research with practitioners, researchers and the public. Research Involvement and Engagement 12, 41, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40900-026-00879-4
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