Supporting self-funders to make confident care decisions: ‘Care Confidence in Action’
Care decisions
This is an implementation science-informed process evaluation. The focus of the evaluation is the process through which Care Confidence related interventions are implemented by local authorities and voluntary sector organisations. Care Confidence is an online decision support tool for older social care self-funders and their supporters, designed and tested in previous research (Baxter et al., ‘Development of a decision support tool for older people who pay for social care and their families’ https://www.sscr.nihr.ac.uk/projects/p173/ IRAS project ID 303286). It is currently available to use online for free here: https://www.careconfidence.org.uk/ by anyone who knows the site exists or finds it through searching. However, we know that not everyone has equal access to the internet or has the skills or confidence to find and use online tools without support. This project, therefore, centres on the development and implementation of Care Confidence related interventions to improve access to and use of Care Confidence by older social care self-funders and their supporters. The focus of the evaluation will be the processes through which delivery partners develop and implement their chosen interventions. Outcomes of interest: Markers of implementation success will be: 1. Level of normalisation (embedding over time) 2. Fidelity of implementation and use (the degree to which what is happening matches what was intended) 3. ‘Dose’ (how much of the intervention is necessary to have benefit). Applying NPT, normalisation can be described/quantified via NoMAD (a staff survey) and explained – with reference to mechanisms and their interactions with context – via staff interviews and focus groups. This data collection, along with interviews with service users about their experiences of receiving interventions, will further inform our understanding of fidelity, dose and implementation success. A staged approach: The study has five stages: Stage 1 (April to May 2025): Relationship
The following inclusion criteria apply for staff participating in surveys, interviews and focus groups: 1. Staff (including volunteers) involved in any capacity in delivering a Care Confidence related intervention 2. Staff involved in managing the implementation or delivery of a Care Confidence related intervention The following inclusion criteria apply for self-funders and carers participating in interviews: 1. Any adult offered, signposted to, or using any Care Confidence related intervention designed and/or delivered as part of Care Confidence in Action
1. Staff not involved in the delivery, management or implementation of Care Confidence related interventions for the Care Confidence in Action research or research sites 2. People without capacity to give informed consent 3. People under 18 years of age