Leeds universities join forces on adult social care research

Leeds Beckett University's Centre for Dementia Research and The University of Leeds School of Healthcare partnership, known as SSCR@Leeds, has been chosen by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to join its School for Social Care Research (SSCR), which has been developing the evidence base to inform and improve adult social care practice in England since 2009.

NIHR SSCR announced in December that it will receive up to £31 million in funding over five years. This will further support the school's core vision to provide better evidence for what works in adult social care and how this can be applied across the whole country. This will support, mobilise and deliver impact for the benefit of the public as service users, carers and the workforce.

Claire Surr, Professor of Dementia Studies and Director of the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University, said: "The SSCR@Leeds partnership provides an exciting opportunity for carrying out social care research that will not only positively impact the city region, but which will provide nationally relevant learning.

"It will open greater opportunities to work with other leading social care researchers and provides an exciting opportunity to grow academic and practice-based social care research capacity within Leeds. This will help us to achieve what matters most, which is research that can be used by social care providers, commissioners and policy makers to support improved care."

The six academic institutions forming the NIHR SSCR were chosen because they demonstrate excellence in social care research, with an emphasis on findings that can be applied across the whole country.

SSCR@Leeds Director Karen Spilsbury, Professor of Nursing in the University of Leeds' School of Healthcare, said: "As members of the NIHR SSCR, we will build on our track record of delivering internationally excellent social care research through our care and science partnership.

"Membership provides the opportunity to expand our work, engaging more care homes and expanding our research into homecare and assisted living for older people - and expanding our approaches to research and investing in building capacity and capability for social care research. Our membership of NIHR SSCR is important recognition of what we do well and the difference our research is making to people."

SSCR@Leeds' research will focus on areas that matter most for the people using and providing care, including areas such as met and unmet needs, new technologies, the role of the community in promoting wellbeing, diversity, and use of data.

Work will also address challenges facing the adult social care workforce, including recruitment and retention, workforce development, skills, and training, roles development and new ways of working, and equality and diversity.