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Greater awareness of social care self-funders

A case study with Worcestershire County Council.

Worcestershire County Council developed an award-winning model to analyse potential future demand for council-funded adult social care from self-funder pick-ups

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Background

Self-funder pick-ups occur where people begin funding their own social care, but deplete their assets to the point where they become eligible for council funding (below the £23,250 asset threshold). Since few people consider getting independent financial advice about care in later life, they are often unaware of the extent of funding required for residential or nursing care. Consequently, once private funds finish, people are reliant on council funding – and often the cost of the placement chosen by the individual is above that which would be funded by the council. Worcestershire County Council estimates that approximately 15% of council-funded long-term residential or nursing placements each year begin as self-funders, representing a significant proportion of council spending on social care. 

This project aimed to produce a risk model to analyse the characteristics of self-funder pick-ups. This predicts those residents at most risk, and allows the council to provide more targeted advice on social care options at an earlier stage to these groups. Greater awareness amongst older residents could help to reduce the costs of social care provision in Worcestershire.

What the project involved

Council-held information about existing self-funder pick-ups was matched with Household Acorn data to create a risk model. This identified the characteristics of self-funder pick-ups and predict those at most risk of requiring council funding. This analysis indicated that approximately 40% of self-funder pick-ups were from two of the 17 older Acorn Household types, and risks increased with stroke diagnosis and having no children at home. The analysis also indicated the best methods of communicating (such as letters, visits, Short Message Service or SMS) with at-risk households, meaning that the council can tailor its approach.

50% growth in number of over-75s by 2030

£190,000 annual savings from a 10% reduction

Threshold for council funding is £23,250

Benefits of this risk-model project

Older people benefit from:

  • more tailored information about social care and residential care choices, leading to more informed choices - a better understanding of care options can prevent older people from leaving their own homes and moving into residential or nursing care earlier than necessary
  • greater clarity and awareness of care funding can avoid unnecessary spend and better long term planning (also benefiting the council) 

Worcestershire County Council benefit from:

  • reduced spending on residential and/or nursing care – the council estimates that in 2018/19, it spent £1.8 million on social care for 118 new self-funder pick-ups
  • greater awareness of this market, enabling the council to better prepare for future demand, as well as targeting the right groups with the right information
  • better targeting of information and advice for self-funders most at risk of becoming a self-funder pick-up

Worcestershire residents benefit from reduced spending on self-funder pick-ups (and savings for residents) which could be reinvested into other council services 

Lessons learned so far

Using existing Acorn data (as opposed to creating new data sources) meant the model could be developed quickly, and the project could be delivered on time.

 

The model used characteristics based on household type to provide an estimate of the risk of a household having a self-funder pick-up. Statistical analysis indicated that the model’s predicted risk was close to the actual risk.

 

The project has illustrated the possibilities of combining social care and geo-demographic data to profile future social care users. This approach can be expanded and refined to incorporate new data (such as the actual values for individuals and households) to further identify the key factors in predicting future care needs (such as need for domiciliary care).

For more information contact: Jennie Humphries, Worcestershire County Council, [email protected].

Download the full case study

Last edited: 28 September 2022 1:58 pm