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Working with Health Technology Wales to help develop new social care guidance

31 May 2024

As part of our evidence and innovation work, we’re working with Health Technology Wales (HTW) to identify key social care topics to be appraised. Appraised topics will help steer independent guidance which could be used to support future ways of working in Wales.

The guidance could be used to help social care decision makers and practitioners make decisions, based on sound evidence, to help improve the quality of services in Wales.

New social care guidance available

The first two social care topics HTW have appraised with our support are intensive family preservation programmes and video feedback interventions. The guidance published on these topics can offer information to practitioners who are supporting families and children.

Intensive family preservation programmes are short-term, intense interventions that can be used with families in a period of crisis, such as when there’s an imminent risk of a child entering care.

Video feedback interventions support children and their families who are at risk of, or experiencing, harm. Evidence presented in the guidance showed that parents who used video feedback interventions reported improvements in family relationships and parental confidence.

How to suggest a topic

Anyone can suggest a social care topic, model or technology to be considered for appraisal.

Examples could include equipment and environmental design, or different models to improve care and support for families, children, adults and the workforce.

Once a topic has been agreed, HTW will explore the model, technology or approach by researching and evaluating the best available evidence. After the information has been approved by a panel of subject experts, HTW will then publish independent guidance to support future ways of working in social care in Wales.

Lisa Trigg, our Assistant Director of Research, Data and Innovation, said: “Evidence-informed guidelines can help decision makers plan for new and different ways of working across social care. It’s important that the proposed topics for exploring future guidelines are useful, appropriate and effective for social care in Wales. We’re pleased to be working with HTW to guide this work.”

Dr Susan Myles, Director of Health Technology Wales, said: “The publication of this guidance has the potential to make a big difference to families receiving social care support in Wales.

“Health Technology Wales produces national guidance to support evidence- informed decision making in social care.  

“We would urge anybody who knows of a non-medicine care technology that could support people receiving social care in Wales to submit it to Health Technology Wales for appraisal.”

You can put forward a topic for appraisal by filling out HTW’s online form. To find out more about the criteria for submitting a technology or model of care and support, visit the HTW website.