The ECHO Project - The Provision of Social Care in Extra Care Housing

The ECHO project was a two year study which is funded by the Department of Health (DH), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the School for Social Care Research (SSCR). 

The project started in October 2015 and its broad aim was to explore how care is negotiated and delivered in extra care housing schemes for older people.

The ECHO project was a collaboration between the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol, the Association for Dementia Studies at the University of Worcester, the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent, and the Housing Learning and Improvement Network. The team was led by Ailsa Cameron, senior lecturer based at the Centre for Research in Health and Social Care, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol.

The results from the ECHO Project are captured in two Housing LIN YouTube films, part of the series ‘Spotlight on Extra Care Housing’.

• The first film, ‘Listening to residents in extra care housing: findings from the ECHO research project’, documents the key objective of the ECHO project, to gain residents' first-hand perspective on living within their extra care scheme. 
• The second film, ‘Influencing policy and operations: outcomes from the ECHO research project’, looks into the ECHO project’s more professional approach, documenting the findings of dialogue between commissioners and managers from ECH schemes.