Most people with dementia live in private households and promoting their wellbeing is a key policy objective. However, little is known about the most appropriate or effective forms of home care, taking into account the views of service users and their carers. Home care has become an area of increasing concern in recent years in terms of availability, quality, cost and effectiveness. This mixed methods study will investigate the effectiveness of home care for people with dementia. First, using data from an evidence synthesis of relevant literature, metrics relating to process and effectiveness will be calculated for specialist home care support for people with dementia, generic forms of home care and service receipt which is a mix of the two. Second, a naturalistic study will follow up people receiving different forms of home care over a 6-month period. Post-hoc analysis will estimate the relative effectiveness and cost by comparing each approach. Third, the views of carers about home care support to people with dementia will be canvassed using themes identified in the literature review. Data will be analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. An established Public, Patient and Carer Involvement Group will contribute to the study.