Covid-19, and the response to the pandemic, has presented extraordinary challenges to the care sector. New research funded by the Health Foundation and led by researchers at Keele University, however, sheds light on how creativity has played the biggest role in continuing adult safeguarding practice within the constraints of the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Evidence shows that referrals for adult safeguarding referrals dropped early on during the pandemic, followed by a jump exceeding ordinary levels and an overall increase in referrals from previous years. Moreover, there have also been particular concerns about the extent to which ‘hidden’ forms of harms such as financial abuse, domestic violence and self-neglect were being exacerbated by lockdowns and, consequently, how visible they were for adult safeguarding teams.
