Abstract

This paper will present an example of how a situational analysis exercise and a Theory of Change workshop were used to co-develop a conceptual framework with key stakeholders, anchored on the Production of Welfare framework. This framework considers the care system’s ultimate aims to be enabling people with losses of function and capacity to live their best lives and to ensure unpaid and paid carers can live well.

In this study, from the perspective of the English social care system, we used situational analysis and theory of change to map the ways in which the social care system can contribute to these aims and to identify areas where characteristics of the system have limited its ability to achieve its aims, particularly during the pandemic.

These areas of the social care system that need to be improved were considered “opportunities for learning” and were cross-checked against a mapping of COVID-19 evidence on social care and reports of experiences of other countries during the pandemic to identify key areas of literature for more detailed reviews as well to identify 4 countries for in-depth case studies.