Research article published in October 2025 in the European Journal of Ageing.
Written by Jonathan E. Prunty, Jinbao Zhang, Robin Miller and Julien Forder.
Strengths-based models of care are increasingly popular with policymakers, but evidence of their effectiveness is currently limited. This study examines the impact that Community Led Support (CLS), a strengths-based model of care, has had on new and existing clients in England.
The article focuses on a difference/indifference approach to estimate the treatment effect of CLS on care provision, reviews, and expenditure, using the Short and Long Term (SALT) dataset published by NHS Digital (2016 to 2021).
The article highlights that:
- Within local authorities that implemented CLS, there was evidence of changing care pathways for new clients, including a ten percentage point reduction in funded care provision.
- For existing clients, there is evidence of general improvements in the quality of practice, as indicated by higher ratios of planned to unplanned care reviews. These improvements were also realised without concomitant increases in expenditure rates.
