The Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) is a suite of tools designed to measure social care-related quality of life (SCRQoL) for adults accessing social care services (e.g. homecare, residential care)  and their unpaid/family/friend carers, as well as the care work-related quality of life (CWRQoL) of people working in adult social care.

• SCRQoL refers to the aspects (domains) of individual quality of life that can be affected by adult social care services (e.g. homecare, residential care) and are most important to people.
• CWRQoL refers to the aspects (domains) of work-related quality of life that are most relevant and meaningful to people working in adult social care (e.g., care workers, managers, social workers, nurses, occupational therapists).

ASCOT measures have been used internationally in applied and policy research, economic evaluations and for local service evaluation and care planning. The ASCOT-SCT4 is also used to populate indicators (e.g. indicator 1A) in the English Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF).

The ASCOT-SCT4 and -INT4 for adults with care and support needs is preference-weighted (Netten et al. 2012). It has been recommended for use in economic evaluations (Bulamu et al. 2015, Makai et al. 2014). The ASCOT-Carer SCT4 and INT4 also have preference weights (Batchelder et al. 2019).

‘Which tool should I use?’ is designed to help you find out more about the suite of tools and decide which is right for your study or service. The ASCOT measures and guidance for each tool (with information about scoring) are available to preview on our website.

There is also more information about the suite of ASCOT measures, their development and application in this webinar series to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the launch of the preference weighted ASCOT-SCT4/INT4 (Netten et al. 2012)..

To use any of the ASCOT measures, please complete the appropriate form (not-for-profit or for-profit) to receive a licence for use.