Food and Social Care

Many older adults living at home rely on social care for help with food and drink, yet this area is often overlooked. Recent data shows a doubling of people with unmet food needs, leaving many at risk. Eating well isn’t just about nutrition; it’s about dignity, identity and staying independent.

This project aims to fill these research gaps by co-designing a new study with the public and care workers. We will explore how different services – like housing, technology, and informal care – overlap to support people’s food needs. By using data and lived experience, we will create a roadmap for evidence-based care that ensures everyone can eat well at home.

• Aims and objectives

  The aim of this one year project is to co-design, with practitioner partners and a public involvement group, a proposal for a programme of research on the topic of food support in adult social care. The objectives of the project are:

  1. To establish a public involvement group (building on the previously established COARN group and Co-produce Hub)  and practitioner partnerships.  
  2. To undertake desk-based research to review existing evidence, identify gaps in knowledge,  evaluate methods and appraise datasets. 
  3. To conduct a programme of wider engagement to gather additional perspectives from people receiving care, informal carers and care agencies, and practitioners in other parts of the UK. 
  4. Work with practitioner partners and the public involvement group to develop a research proposal, informed by the desk-based research and consultation activities.

• Methods

  This research will involve a scoping review to inform the co-design process and a series of participatory workshops to capture the perspectives of people delivering and receiving social care.

• Proposed outputs

  The principal output of this project will be a proposal for a programme of future research aimed at NIHR Research Programme for Social Care.

  • The evidence scoping review, consultation and co-production will form the basis of at least one journal article to a leading social care journal, and a Commissioner and Practitioner-facing summary.
  • The findings of the research will be circulated in a user-friendly leaflet format to all participants and through the Collaborative Older Adults Research Network (COARN) and other care networks.
  • Presentation opportunities will be sought to disseminate the findings to Integrated Care Boards and local care and research commissioning partners, Home Improvement Agencies and charities