IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science

A new research study, published in the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS), is helping build a clearer picture of inequalities in adult social care in Wales by bringing together information from different public services while also listening to the experiences of people who use care and support.

The CARE Lab study is led by researchers at Cardiff University, alongside partners from Swansea University, the London School of Economics, Social Care Wales, the Welsh Government and Disability Wales. Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the study will use newly available information about adults receiving care and support across Wales. By securely linking this information with health, education and other anonymised data sources, researchers hope to better understand how care and support are provided and identify opportunities to improve services and outcomes.

Adult social care supports people with a wide range of needs, including older people, disabled people, and those living with long-term health conditions.  These services play an important role in helping people live well. However, we still do not fully understand who is receiving support, whether people's experiences vary across different parts of Wales, or if some people find it harder than others to access the care and support they need.

The study will explore questions such as: Who receives care and support in Wales? How do services differ between communities? What happens when young people move from children's services into adult services? And can linked data help us understand what types of support work best?

Researchers will use information from the Adults Receiving Care and Support (ARCS) census, introduced in Wales in 2023, alongside health and other data held in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, Wales’ national Trusted Research Environment. All data used for research are de-identified, meaning researchers cannot identify individual people.

The project is not just about data. Researchers will also speak with people who receive care and support, unpaid carers and people working in the sector to understand their experiences and help interpret the patterns revealed by the linked data. A lived experience group will help guide the research and ensure that the findings reflect the realities of people’s lives.

Professor Jonathan Scourfield, Co-Chief Investigator of CARE Lab and member of the Centre for Adult Social Care Research (CARE) Executive said:

"Adult social care supports some of the most vulnerable people in our communities with the highest levels of social need, yet there are still major gaps in our understanding of who receives care, how needs are met, and how support varies across Wales. CARE Lab will help us identify where inequalities exist, but equally where services may be working well, providing evidence to inform future policy and service planning."

Dr Fiona Lugg-Widger, Co-Chief Investigator of CARE Lab and Director of Data at the Centre for Trials Research (CTR), added:

"By securely bringing together information from social care, health and other services, we can answer important questions that have not previously been possible to explore at a national level. We hope this study will show how linked data can help improve our understanding of adult social care and support better decisions in the future."

The CARE Lab programme began in April 2025 and will run for 36 months. By combining linked administrative data with the experiences of people who use and deliver adult social care, the study aims to generate new evidence to support future policy, service planning, and improvements in care across Wales.

 

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Fiona Lugg-Widger, Director of Data, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Wales and Co-Director, HDR UK Transforming Data for Trials Programme

Lugg-Widger, F. V., Akbari, A., Cannings-John, R., Cumming, O., Curds, M., Evans, M., Fernandez, J.-L., Graham, H., Mann, M., Meindl, M., Palmer, A., Trigg, L., Warner, N., Willis, P., Wych, J., Willis, S. and Scourfield, J. (2026) “Understanding Inequalities in Adult Social Care in Wales: Protocol for the CARE Lab Linked Administrative Data Study”, International Journal of Population Data Science, 11(1). doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v11i1.3393.