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Resurrecting the interval of need concept to improve dialogue between researchers, policymakers, and social care practitioners

  • Rosalind Willis
    ,
  • Andrew Amos Channon
    ,
  • Joe Viana
    ,
  • Maria Herica LaValle Masters
    ,
  • Aisha Hutchinson
  • University of Southampton
    ,
  • University of Oslo
Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
 Peer-review

Open access

Abstract

Academics, social care practitioners, and policymakers speak different languages. If academic research is to have an impact on society, it must be understandable and convincing to the end users. We argue that the conceptualisation of social care “need” is different among these stakeholders, leading to poor communication between them. Academics should use concepts that have more meaning to practitioners. We propose resurrecting a little‐used concept from the 1970s, “interval of need”, to help to bridge this gap. The interval of need concept identifies how often people require help, supplementing the usual data about types of tasks where assistance is needed. The history of the concept is described, followed by a test of its usefulness for today's researchers by applying it to data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. An updated version of interval of need is proposed. Validation checks were conducted against mortality data, and through conceptual validation from a social work practitioner. The nature of the dataset limited comparability with previous studies. However, we conclude that the interval of need concept has promising scope to enhance communication of research findings, potentially leading to improved outcomes for service users. This paper strives to mark a turning point in the language and analysis of social care, ensuring that academic investigation in this field is convincing and clear to practitioners and policymakers.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
 Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 1271-1282

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Health and Social Care in the Community (Volume 27, Issue 5)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 12/04/2019
  • Published - 29/05/2019

Publication status

Published - 29/05/2019

ISSN

0966-0410

Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/623428
  • Scopus: 85066470845

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