Study with overall aim to provide macro-level financial and economic evidence on the potential costs, benefits and impacts of an increase in the uptake of SDS in Scotland.
The first specific objective was to describe the baseline in three local authorities, looking at the current operation of SDS, the number and profile of SDS clients and type of SDS accessed, to assess the current costs of providing SDS for providers, and to determine the financial and socio-economic impact of the move to SDS, including the resources needed to facilitate a shift towards higher levels of SDS and to compare this to the previous spend on social care.
The second specific objective was to consider the future and to estimate the ongoing and future costs resulting from the predicted shift to more SDS, and to assess the sustainability of this shift. It was also to estimate how further changes in SDS resulting from the forthcoming legislation may impact on Local Authorities, service providers, SDS users and family carers and to consider the external validity and reliability of the results.