The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) continues to increase its support for adult social care research, and the NIHR School for Social Care Research (NIHR SSCR) Bristol team has been contributing to an array of projects.
The projects the team, hosted in University of Bristol’s School for Policy Studies, are working on include:
Supporting people with learning disabilities at the edges of social care in social housing and the private rented sector
Reimagining collective forms of day care provision for older people
Collaborative housing and innovative social care practice
COVID-19, closeness and care: The changing provision of direct care for older people in residential and home care settings
Older men’s mental health and emotional wellbeing: Use of community support groups
The contribution of social workers to older people’s wellbeing
Understanding social care assessments of older LGBTQ+ people
The role of social network analysis in identifying unmet support needs for families supporting an adult with a learning disability within family homes
Personal assistance for intimate citizenship: improving sexuality-related support for disabled young adults
These studies mostly have an England-wide focus and feature collaboration with a range of academic and non-academic co-applicants. They also include the input and involvement of those who are the focus of the research – usually service users and people with lived experience. Three of the most recent awards went to early career researchers, in part to bolster overall research capacity, and also to recognise the ongoing challenges faced by early career researchers.
In the last academic year, postgraduate students in the School for Policy Studies won NIHR SSCR internship awards to support final year dissertations with a focus on adult social care. Their PhD studentship holders also continue with their research: Jo Clough looking at the intersections of social care and autistic women, and Kitty Clucas researching the experiences of bisexual people who use adult social care services.
NIHR Research for Social Care continues with its annual call as well as specific calls around dementia and mental health in the North. Professor David Abbott in the School for Policy Studies is the current committee chair and happy to chat to anyone interested in applying. In addition, NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) now has social care expertise on all panels and actively welcome applications with a focus on adult social care.
Likely future calls include a joint NIHR/UKRI funding opportunity around housing and social care.
Do feel free to contact David Abbott with questions or comments, and to sign up for NIHR SSCR news.