The use of home-based social care services in 2015/16 by individuals diagnosed with cancer in Scotland: a linked health and social care data analysis
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Context
Cancer is strongly associated with age. As detection and treatments improve, more individuals are living with and surviving the disease. Many of these individuals require social care as a direct result of their diagnosis and treatment effects, yet evidence on formal care receipt among people diagnosed with cancer is scarce.
Objectives
In this paper, we explore home-based, social care service use in Scotland among patients recently diagnosed with cancer and among those five-years post-diagnosis. We document differences between these two phases of care and explore variation between cancer types.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of patients diagnosed with cancer in Scotland in 2015/16 and 2010/11. We used a unique dataset, combining – for the first time - cancer registrations data with Scotland’s Social Care Survey, to describe home-based social care use during the year 2015/16. We describe home-based social care use during 2015/16 in patients diagnosed with cancer in 2015/16 (Cohort 1) and 2010/11 (Cohort 2). We estimate multivariate regression models to explore differences between cancer types, controlling for demographic and clinical factors.
Findings
Among patients diagnosed with cancer in 2015/16, around 12% received some form of home-based social care during the same year compared with 10% of those diagnosed five years prior. We find significant differences in social care use depending on the type of cancer, even after controlling for age, sex, deprivation, geography and comorbidity.
Limitations
The research describes use of service only and cannot determine if this use reflects 0the needs of individuals or whether those needs are being met. Our five-year survivor cohort may be subject to survivorship bias which affects the interpretation of the results. Since we focus solely on those with a cancer diagnosis, we cannot conclude that use of home-based care is a direct result of a cancer diagnosis.
Implications
This work has shown that a substantial proportion of people diagnosed with cancer use home-based social care services. As the number of people living with and surviving cancer increases, understanding the evolving need for social care over time is necessary for future care planning and provision.
