Championing a research culture in Neath Port Talbot

What is the project?

The aim of this project was to champion a research culture among social care practitioners in Neath Port Talbot.

Rachel Scourfield and Liza Turton are consultant social workers based at Neath Port Talbot Council. In 2022, they secured National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding under the Practice Based Research Leaders Award. This enabled them to have a dedicated post funded for 12 months with business support. Their remit was to embed a research culture for practitioners in using evidence in practice.

Rachel and Liza started by using National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance to analyse retrospective cases and found that it provided a useful structure for work. This included verifying the roles and responsibilities of multi-disciplinary colleagues. As part of this work, it became increasingly clear that using a range of research and evidence would be beneficial for practitioners in their work and in achieving better outcomes for people using services.

Methods used as part of the project included:

• facilitating workshops with the pilot teams to gather baseline and impact data
• facilitating case-mapping sessions with the teams, where complex cases could be analysed using research and evidence
• supporting staff to access and use research and evidence.

The project was unique in Wales and attracted a great deal of interest from a range of research organisations.

Why is it being carried out?

There are recognised barriers in using research and evidence in social care. Unlike colleagues in health, social care doesn’t have an infrastructure that easily lends itself to this way of working.

There’s often a lack of protected time for practitioners to engage in activities that develop a research culture. Also, there are often skills that need developing to build confidence and knowledge in finding and understanding social care research.

Referrals coming into services are increasingly complex, with less resources available. The need for using research and evidence in practice is increasingly being recognised as essential to inform decision making and create better outcomes.

When and where did the project take place?

The project began in April 2023 and ended at the end of March 2024.

The project was carried out in Neath Port Talbot with three pilot teams in adult services.

Who was involved?

The project included working with three pilot teams in Neath Port Talbot:

• the complex disability team
• the Neath network team
• a team of occupational therapists.

The teams are distinctly different and are made up of a mixture of health and social care professionals.

As well as this, a range of people who are contributing to a conference at the end of the project were also involved. The conference will include demonstrations of the progress people have made through this project, as well as hearing stories from the teams about its value to their work. This includes testimonies of where using research and evidence had a positive impact on outcomes for people who use services.

Senior management were very supportive and Rachel and Liza have been able to share their journey and experience with neighbouring local authorities.

NICE has also been involved in supporting the use of its guidelines to support practice.

Developing Evidence Enriched Practice (DEEP) and the knowledge mobilisation team at Social Care Wales have developed a support package that includes techniques for developing an evidence-enriched environment and supporting practitioners to engage more easily with research and evidence.

The London School of Economics supported Liza and Rachel using a theory of change study that had been carried out to look at developing a research culture and the implementation of NICE guidance in social care.

What have they learned from the work? 

There have been many benefits and learning from this project, including:

• the contributions of this work to the further development of robust professional decision making among social care practitioners, positive outcomes for people using services, and a positive impact on the well-being of practitioners in supporting decision making using research and evidence
• recognising the need for dedicated posts with time to provide leadership for this important work. Also, that embedding a research culture is time consuming and the danger is that without leadership it’ll be unsustainable
• that there’s an appetite for developing a research culture and that this could be expanded across the organisation more broadly
• the benefits of working using a collaborative approach with the support of colleagues at Developing Evidence Enriched Practice (DEEP) and the knowledge mobilisation team at Social Care Wales
• practitioners can lack confidence and skills in using research and evidence in practice. This leadership role is crucial to provide people with the support they need as individuals
• coming to the end of the project, it’s clear to see the impact, but there’s still a long way to go to embed a research culture in practice.

Find out more

For more information, please contact Melanie Weaver or Liza Turton at Neath Port Talbot Council.