Traversing the data landscape: insights and recommendations from a case study using novel linkage of care home and health data
Listed in
This article is not in any list yet, why not save it to one of your lists.Abstract
The insights available from linking routine data have transformative potential for understanding and improving population health and wellbeing. People living in care homes could benefit from greater accessibility and utility of linked data to allow better understanding of their needs. However, there are well-documented challenges to achieving cross-sectoral data linkage in the UK, with slower progress incorporating social care data. In this Perspectives paper we outline our experiences as researchers undertaking the DACHA study (Developing research resources And minimum data set for Care Homes Adoption and use). This involved linking administrative health and care records with records from care home software providers for over 700 older adult care home residents in England to build a proof-of-concept minimum data set. From our learning, we make eight recommendations for researchers, analysts, research funders, data owners, data controllers and policymakers, to support accessing and linking data for research.
