New IFS research will investigate health and social care funding for older people

With funding from the Health Foundation, IFS researchers will investigate how public money is allocated across health and social care services for older people with different types of needs, and the effect on their health outcomes and wellbeing.

The research project will be led by IFS Programme Director Gemma Tetlow. She says, “With an ageing population and limited public funding, it is important to understand how health and social care spending can be directed most efficiently and how these services can complement one another to produce the best outcomes. In this new research, we will use newly available data on older people’s need for and use of health and social care services to better understand how public spending is currently allocated across services and individuals and the effect of this allocation on individuals’ outcomes and wellbeing. An important aspect of this project will be to understand more about how the provision of social care affects demand for health care and vice versa.”

IFS Director Paul Johnson adds: “One of the most pressing challenges facing policymakers over the coming years will be how to provide adequate health and social care to the UK’s ageing population without imposing an unsustainable burden on taxpayers. This new funding from the Health Foundation will allow us shed new light on this important question by applying the rigorous, impartial quantitative analysis and in-depth policy knowledge for which IFS is renowned.”

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