Establishing the extra in Extra Care, Perspectives from three Extra Care Housing Providers

New research, which uses longitudinal data from three providers of Extra Care (Audley Retirement, Extra Care Charitable Trust, and Retirement Security Limited) finds that compared to those living in the community in receipt of domiciliary care, those in extra care housing are about half as likely to enter institutional accommodation. The research argues therefore that extra care accommodation is a ‘home for life’ – one that does successfully adapt to residents’ changing social care needs. The research also finds that: Around a quarter of residents who enter extra care with additional social care needs, later go on to experience an improvement in their health equating to a decrease in social care needs; Extra care housing is associated with a lower likelihood of admittance to a hospital overnight compared to a matched sample living in the community; A lower than expected number of falls was recorded in a matched comparison group when compared to those living in the community. These findings suggest that extra care housing could contribute significant financial savings to the public purse, particularly when taking a long-term perspective.

Link to report: Establishing the extra in Extra Care, Perspectives from three Extra Care Housing Providers