The research paper ‘The association between social care expenditure and multiple-long term conditions: A population-based area-level analysis is published in the Journal of Multimorbidty and Comorbidity.
The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of multiple long-term conditions and links between social care expenditure. The study analysed the population aged 65 and over who died in England in 2018 with any of the following long-term conditions recorded on their death certificate: diabetes; cardiovascular diseases including hypertension; dementia; stroke; respiratory; and chronic kidney diseases. Prevalence was based on the proportion of death reported for older people with at least two multiple long-term conditions in each of the 152 English local authorities.
Findings suggest that an increased prevalence of multiple long-term conditions is associated with increased local authority social care spending, even after controlling for local authority income per person, deprivation scores, gender and age. This research has implications for how funding is allocated and how health and care services are organised.
However, this study has limitations as the research model does not include several factors which may influence social care spend. The authors suggest further research is needed to prevent, or reduce the risk of multiple long-term conditions and their harm.