Closing the gap on care equity starts with better access to evidence

Across the sector, inequities are well recognised, through both published evidence and lived experience. People experience different levels of access, different standards of care, and different outcomes depending on where they live and who they are.

We know about some of these issues. But there are also significant gaps in the evidence, particularly for some groups and local contexts.

The question is not just ‘what do we know?’. It’s also ‘how do we use what we know’, and ‘where do we still need to know more?’. Most important, the central challenge is ‘how do we use the evidence to tackle inequities and improve people’s care and support?’.

That is the focus of SCIE’s new Care Equity Evidence Hub, which we launched earlier this week. It brings together research, data and practice evidence in one place to support more informed policymaking, commissioning and practice decisions.

The problem: evidence about care equity exists, but it is hard to find and use

People working in policy, commissioning and practice are making decisions about care every day. In October 2024, SCIE convened three roundtables involving policymakers, commissioners, providers, researchers, voluntary and community sector organisations, people who draw on care and support, and unpaid carers.

We heard through these roundtables that the evidence they need is often:

hard to find

hard to understand and spread across multiple sources

written in ways that are not easy to apply

So decisions are often made without a clear, consistent view of what the evidence says.

It is important to highlight the fact that this is a structural issue. There exists a considerable body of literature on social care and equity. But it is fragmented and difficult for decision makers to access and apply. And when evidence is fragmented, action is too.

A different approach

By bringing together evidence that is often scattered across reports, research papers and policy documents, the Care Equity Evidence Hub aims to make social care evidence easier to find and apply in real-world decision-making. This means no long lists of search results, no need to interpret complex academic papers, and no time lost trying to piece information together.

Instead, the Care Equity Evidence Hub gives you:

clear summaries of key evidence

the main messages, up front

content organised around real-world priorities

examples of how evidence is used in practice

The aim is straightforward. Better access to evidence means more informed decisions, which means action on inequities.

Through this, we also have clearer visibility of gaps, and that helps target future evidence more effectively. Both access to information and understandings of gaps are needed to address inequities.

Built with the sector, not for it

SCIE’s new Care Equity Evidence Hub has not been developed in isolation. It has been co-produced with the sector from the start.

That includes:

policymakers and commissioners

providers and practitioners

researchers and voluntary organisations

people who draw on care and support

unpaid carers

They were clear about what was needed. Not necessarily more evidence in all areas, but better access, clearer summaries, and stronger links to practice. There was also a consistent message that gaps in the evidence are not always visible or well understood in decision-making.

That input shaped the Evidence Hub’s structure, content and priorities.

A project advisory group, including people with lived experience, continues to guide the work, as have several rounds of stakeholder engagement.

At SCIE, we feel this is essential. Because if the Evidence Hub is going to support action on inequities, it has to reflect the reality of how decisions are made in practice, and the people they affect.

Why this matters now

Inequities in social care are not new. Differences in access, experience and outcomes are known to be shaped by geography, deprivation, ethnicity, disability, the availability of services, and much more.

What is new is the opportunity to bring the evidence together in a way that supports action.

With growing focus on social care reform, including work led by the Casey Commission, there is increased attention on how the system delivers for different groups and communities.

The Care Equity Evidence Hub helps you:

see where inequities exist

understand how they affect different groups

identify what the evidence says might help address them

This shifts the focus from recognising inequities exist to acting on them with evidence.

Next steps

The Care Equity Evidence Hub will continue to grow with more themes and additional content. This is not a ‘snapshot in time’ resource. It will evolve based on what people need, what evidence emerges, and where the gaps are. Organisations and individuals across the sector are part of that process. We will be seeking regular feedback from the hub’s users.

This ongoing engagement will help ensure that the hub remains relevant to the needs of the social care sector.

A clear goal

The Evidence Hub is built on a simple idea. If people can access and use evidence more easily, they can make better decisions. And if gaps in the evidence are clearer, future work can be better targeted.

Both matter. Because better decisions, supported by the right evidence, are how inequities in social care are addressed.

Not in theory, but in practice.

To explore the Evidence Hub, click here. And to find out more about the work SCIE does and how we can support you, read our Impact Report 2025/26, which spotlights the key projects we’ve worked on in the last year, including the Evidence Hub, and their outcomes, or contact us.