by Professor Paul Willis
Welcome to CARE! As the recently appointed Director, I am delighted to introduce our research centre.
Mission
Our mission is to make a significant contribution to the knowledge base of adult social care and generate new evidence that informs the delivery of adult social care support through multidisciplinary research, in Wales and beyond.
Background
CARE is a collaboration between the Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, Cardiff Business School and the Centre for Trials Research. The development of CARE has been strongly supported by the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE), and we are proud to have received infrastructure funding from Health and Care Research Wales.
Building a good foundation
In our first year we have pulled together all the key ingredients needed for success. One key ingredient is having the right people on board. Our research team brings a wide range of disciplinary expertise, with research backgrounds in mental health and social care, substance misuse support and interventions, older age, care settings and social inclusion, creative methods and realist approaches to research, sexuality and ageing, and men and masculinities.
Our professional support members bring skills and expertise in finance, administration, communications and public involvement. Notably, many of our team members have experience in supporting others with care and support needs.
A collaborative approach
Another key ingredient is collaboration, which is central to our work. We have been getting out and meeting key stakeholders including people leading charities, policymakers and local authority representatives involved in the delivery of social care.
We have established a Strategic Advisory Group, chaired by Andrew Pithouse, Emeritus Professor at Cardiff University. Members include Welsh Government representatives, directors of social care services and academics with extensive social care research experience, and people with lived experience of receiving social care support.
Fundamentally important to our work is engaging with people with lived experience and carers. I am delighted that we now have a Public Involvement Board of dedicated individuals with lived experience of receiving care and support. Supporting public involvement will be at the heart of CARE’s core strategy and activity.
High quality research
A third vital ingredient is having the resources to do high-quality research. Over the last year, we have submitted applications to crucial funding streams led by institutions such as Health and Care Research Wales and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The final key ingredient – multidisciplinary expertise – is vital for bringing together different but complementary perspectives for addressing pressing social care problems.
Our key thematic research areas are:
- Dementia and other neurological conditions,
- Learning disabilities and difficulties, neurodivergence,
- Housing and long-term care settings for older people,
- Transitions to adulthood and adult social care services,
- and workforce management and care provision.
We are establishing new thematic streams in technology, care and wellbeing and mental health services and social care support.
While these are still early days, we have all the vital ingredients to thrive and generate new adult social care research that speaks to priority areas for Wales and beyond.
