March 24th 2021
A new £15 million centre for adult social care is being developed to promote people’s independence and wellbeing.
Called IMPACT (Improving Adult Care Together), the centre is the first of its kind in the UK. It will be an ‘implementation centre’ drawing on knowledge gained from different types of research, the lived experience of people using services and their carers, and the knowledge of social care staff.
The centre will also:
- lead the way in helping people working in adult social care, carers, and the people they support make better use of high-quality evidence to support innovation
- build capacity and skills in the workforce
- help develop sustainable and productive relationships between all of those working across adult social care
- improve understanding of what helps or hinders when putting evidence into practice.
It’s been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, and the Health Foundation.
It will be led by Professor Jon Glasby from the University of Birmingham with 12 academics. Digital Social Care is a partner, alongside people using social care services, policy and practice partners, and a broad consortium of stakeholders across the sector in the UK.
Jon Glasby, Professor of Health and Social Care at the University of Birmingham, said:
“Adult social care touches people’s lives in such important and intimate ways, and it’s crucial that it’s based on the best possible evidence of what works.
“Good care isn’t just about services, it’s about having a life – and the ESRC and the Health Foundation are providing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a real difference.”
ESRC Executive Chair, Professor Alison Park, said:
“The complex nature of the social care system means that frontline practice does not always benefit sufficiently from the evidence we already have about what works.
“The increased implementation of evidence-based innovations and improvements in adult social care are crucial to ensuring better outcomes for the many people who use these services, and their carers and families. Finding a way to make this happen is challenging – but the prize, in terms of improvements to adult social care, makes it essential.”
Together with stakeholders in social care and beyond, the IMPACT team will agree priorities. They’ll design, establish, deliver and evaluate the centre’s work programme, aiming to lead to sustainable change in the use of evidence in adult social care.
For help and guidance on social care technology look at Digital Social Care’s useful resource section.
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