Improving evidence

Care & Repair England closed in April 2022

 

This website is now an archive and some information may be out of date

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At a time of unprecedented pressures on public expenditure higher standards of evidence are being demanded by policy makers, planners and commissioners, including demonstrating the cost benefits of  well-established services.

A lack of investment in high standard academic research into housing, health, care and ageing connections, particularly to the ‘gold standard’ of a randomised control trial, could put practical housing services at risk.

These include the very services that older people tell us they value so highly – help with home adaptations, housing repairs, handyperson schemes and home improvement agencies.

Our 'Catch 22' project to improve evidence aimed to tackle this challenge by:

• Encouraging and supporting the development of new, high quality research which can potentially provide compelling evidence of the benefits of housing interventions
• Highlighting the need for research into the links between ageing, health and care in mainstream homes (which is where over 90% of older people live) with a focus on the impacts of home adaptations and essential repairs
• Promoting the use of evidence to inform and improve policy, practice and commissioning across housing, health and care

  Brochure about the Catch 22 project is available here

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                    

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Why 'Catch 22'?

The reason for the name of the project is because increasingly practical housing services (e.g. adaptations & repairs assistance schemes) find themselves in a ‘Catch 22’ situation i.e.

• Housing services are required to prove the financial benefits (especially for NHS/ Social Care) of the housing interventions….but
• Few academics have/ are undertaking such research, partly because it has not been a funding priority for academic research grant givers ….and so
• housing services risk being de-commissioned due to the lack of research evidence….which means
• there will be even fewer practical housing service providers to take part in the research that could prove their worth