National Care Service evidence paper: people who get adult social care and unpaid carers - easy read
This easy read summary provides an overview of key sources of evidence about people who access social care and unpaid carers in Scotland. It is part of a collection of contextual evidence papers, setting out key sources of information about social care and related areas in Scotland.
This document is part of a collection
National Care Service Evidence paper : People who get adult social care and unpaid carers: Easy Read
People who get social care and unpaid carers in Scotland
Around 1 in every 25 people in Scotland got social care support and services at some point in 2020/2021.
More than 3 out of every 4 people getting social care support in 2020 to 2021 were aged 65 and over.
More than 3 out of every 5 people getting social care support in 2020/ 2021 were female.
More than 93 thousand people got home care at some point in 2020/2021.
More than 130 thousand people had a community alarm or telecare service.
A community alarm is worn around your wrist or neck.
You use it to call for help if there is an emergency – for example if you have fallen and cannot get up.
Telecare means alarms and devices that help people to stay safe in their own homes.
In 2021 more than 33 thousand people were living in care homes.
Most of these people were living in care homes for older people.
The number of people living in care homes has gone down over the last 10 years.
Before the coronavirus pandemic we thought there were between 7 and 8 hundred thousand unpaid carers living in Scotland
In 2020 we thought there were more than 8 hundred thousand adult unpaid carers living in Scotland.
An unpaid carer is anyone who cares for a friend or family member who cannot cope without their support.
Older, working age females are more likely to provide unpaid care than other groups.
People in the most deprived areas are more likely to give 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week.
A deprived area is one where people have more difficulties in different parts of their life.
For example many of the people who live there do not have:
- enough money
- choices and chances
- resources – there might not be as many public services
The Covid-19 pandemic made a big difference to social care services.
Some people got less care at home or got their care packages stopped.
Services had to focus on giving support to people with very urgent needs.
Many people and families who get care decided to get less support.
Between the start of the pandemic and February 2022, more than 1 in 4 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate were in care homes.
Contact
Email: SWstat@gov.scot
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