Background: As Ireland prepares to implement a statutory home support scheme,
understanding the responsiveness of existing services from the perspective of older
people is critical for designing equitable, person-centred care in line with Sláintecare.
Aim: The aim of the study is to examine the responsiveness of home support
services in Ireland from the perspective of older people who use these services. The
study will identify factors influencing service user’s experiences and will inform
decisions about the development and delivery of the statutory home support scheme.
Methods: A mixed-methods approach, informed by the literature and a theoretical
framework of health systems responsiveness, will be used to guide the research.
Data collection includes: a) large-scale survey (n=1,800 people) b) semi-structured
interviews with a diverse cohort of older adults (n=36) c) follow-up interviews (n=6) d)
3 focus groups with home support staff. Stratified place-based sampling will include
people with complex care needs and those represented by informal carers. A
framework analysis will consider individual factors, interactional factors, service
delivery/provision, and broader socio-economic-political-cultural factors influence
service user’s expectations and experiences.
Multi-stakeholder engagement: A Service user, Carer and Advocacy Panel (SCAP)
will be involved throughout the study to enhance the quality of the research. Practice
stakeholders will be consulted about the emerging findings. Policymakers will be
engaged using a “Tiger Team” approach to support rapid evidence-to-policy
translation.
Outcomes: The research will uncover key domains of user-centred responsiveness
to inform the development of the statutory home support scheme. The outcomes will
include a) implementable user-centred responsiveness indicators that can be tested
and scaled, b) timely policy recommendations to inform service design and resource
allocation, c) insights to inform care pathways, service integration and the regulatory
framework. The impact will be to strengthen responsiveness of home support
services enhancing the effectiveness of the statutory home support scheme.
