Evaluation of the extra care housing initiative: PSSRU technical report

A central principle underlying the policy of recent UK governments has been to help people maintain their independence in their own homes for as long as possible. More recently, policies have emphasised the personalisation of services, with the aim of giving people greater choice and control over the services they receive. Increasingly, housing has been seen as essential in the development of effective community care services, but housing and social services have tended to develop separately. In 2003, the Extra Care Housing Fund was set up to develop innovative housing with care options for older people and stimulate effective local partnerships between health, social services and housing agencies and providers. The objective of this project was to evaluate new build schemes for older people that received capital funding from the Extra Care Housing Fund in the first two rounds, from 2004–2006. The evaluation aimed to examine the development of the schemes from their implementation, and to follow the residents’ experiences and health over time. A particular feature of the evaluation was to compare explicitly costs and outcomes with those for residents moving into care homes. More broadly, the evaluation provided an opportunity to collect research evidence about the process and impact of new approaches to providing accommodation and care for older people.