Principal Investigator: Dr David Raper (University of Winchester)

Team: Rachel Harrison & Deborah MaCartney (University of Winchester)

Start Date: 1 October 2022

End Date: 30 September 2024

Background

Adult social care is currently dealing with a range of challenges with staff resources being stretched. Research, as an activity is difficult to maintain and embed in this context, but acknowledged to be fundamental in improving practice and finding new and creative ways to overcome challenges.

In order to support an increase in social care research capacity, universities and social care agencies can engage collaboratively to explore strategies and processes that aim build capacity and space for research activity. This move to co-production will enable learning partnerships to be established, and opportunities for knowledge exchange enhanced. The outcome will be to engage, collaborate and find the means for professional development for social care professionals in research.  Alongside this greater understanding of research cultures and contexts for local authorities and adult social care providers will help to develop future partnerships and opportunities for research initiatives.

Aim(s) of the programmes of activity

To develop contacts and communication routes between university and local authority, to help facilitate research and evaluation relationships.

To provide support for research processes and the development of the role of research as an important part of the social care sector.

To provide support and mentoring for a range of projects across local authorities and independent sector. 

To create new platforms for research training for social care practitioners, and growing confidence and experience in this area.

Developing an understanding of research cultures with social care and local authority contexts.

What we discovered

To create a research culture for social care we found that…. 

•Collaboration takes time, effort, patience, resources, flexibility, compatible personalities and commitment to the project

•There must be a shared clear commitment that social care has value

•There must be a shared clear commitment that qualitative research has value

•Research and impacts must be defined and understood as a joint endeavour

•Enhancing research culture in social care is a shared, respectful journey leading to new insights

What we are doing with this Knowledge?

• We are developing an innovative change management model to guide UK organisations in making person-centred transformations successfully, even amidst significant financial constraints

  
  

• The Local Authority are going to use our research to inform their current and future practice in meeting the needs of people who need physical care in their homes and people with learning disabilities

  
  

• We developed training courses to empower social care workers across the UK to conduct their own research

  
  

• We are writing international research articles with Local Authority staff

  
  

• We are holding public events to celebrate this social care research

  
  

• We are setting up a supportive research network for social care staff

Where Next?

There is a critical lack of research and research culture within social care sectors. We all need to work to create an environment where research in social care becomes a standard practice, shaping the future of service delivery.

We will continue to champion the need and value of social care and social care research by extending our research activities, expanding our research short courses, supporting research networks, strengthening our partnerships with Local Authorities through joint funding bids and disseminating our findings more widely. We will continue to evaluate how our collaborative approach to research impacts social care outcomes.

You can find a video detailing our findings here: Social care | NIHR ARC Wessex