{
  "abstract": "Introduction Care provided in people’s own homes (domiciliary care) is an increasingly important part of long-term care. There are various services, including home visits, live-in care and housing with care. Some people directly employ care staff, called personal assistants. Services vary in quality, price and availability, and there is currently little evidence of the value these services provide to the public purse and individuals. This study protocol presents planned research to fill this important gap.Methods and analysis This will be a cross-sectional study based on surveys of care recipients, their unpaid carers as well as formal care providers. In the first half of 2026, we will survey 1850 people accessing domiciliary care either through a homecare agency, a housing with care scheme or by directly employing personal assistants and 400 unpaid carers, all based in England. We will conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis taking a ‘production function’ approach and use quality of life as measured by the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit as the main outcome of interest.Ethics and dissemination The study received ethical approval from the School of Social Sciences Staff Review Committee at the University of Kent on 20 May 2025 (reference 1195) and the Health Research Authority, London—Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee on 28 October 2025 (reference 25/LO/0652). Implications around consent, data protection and confidentiality, risk and participant payment are discussed. In addition to academic outputs (eg, academic articles, conference presentations), we aim to coproduce news items and blogs with people with lived experience of accessing long-term care and jointly present findings at events aimed at the care sector. Moreover, we will offer participating care providers benchmarking briefs based on our findings.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Florin Vadean"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Georgios Mamolis"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Stacey Rand"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Katerina Gousia"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Hansel Teo"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Birch"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Anica Alvarez Nishio"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Health and Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King’s College London, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Ann-Marie Towers"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Stephen Allan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Robin Darton"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ipsos UK, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Freddie Gregory"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ipsos UK, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Claire Lambert"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Skills for Care Ltd, Leeds, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Will Fenton"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Skills for Care Ltd, Leeds, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Davison"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Amanda Roberts"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Care and Outcomes Research Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Olena Nizalova"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The benefits and costs of domiciliary care: a study protocol for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of domiciliary care in England",
  "uid": "94205748-a645-5b28-8bfb-5536471caa6c"
}