quarterly briefing issue 6 november 2000

This briefing gives an up-to-date account of developments at research in practice a partnership between the Association of Directors of Social Services, Dartington Social Research Unit, the University of Sheffield and 56 member agencies. Together we are working to improve access to child care research by making it more comprehensible and disseminating its findings more widely and by enabling agencies to implement its lessons.

research in practice is the biggest child care research implementation project in the country. It was launched in 1996 and now works with 56 member agencies to encourage the use of research in planning and practice and to develop a research ethos -what might be called 'researchmindedness' - in the personal social services for children and families.

Evidence based social care describes the practice of a range of professions whose work is grounded in sound understanding of the needs of children. It is informed by:

• The best available evidence on what is effective
  
• the practice expertise of professionals
  
• the experiences and preferences of service users.

during the last three months.

audiotape 5 out now

The focus of the new 90-minute discussion is Transitions to Adulthood: services for care leavers. It has contributions from experts of every kind - young people and researchers - and offers invaluable help in the runup to implementation of the Children (Care Leavers) Act next April. Peter Marsh, John Pinkerton, Ruth Sinclair and Mike Stein explore the research and the national policy context, and hear care leavers' and young researchers' views and suggestions.The tape has been distributed in bulk to all members; non-members can purchase copies for £5.

research in practice praised by DH, consulted by many

The Quality Strategy in Social Care consultation document cites us as an example of an effective service supporting the development of evidence based practice. We are delighted, especially as the organization and its members work together in a voluntary partnership to achieve the resulting quality improvements. We will meet next month with DH to discuss the formation of SCIE and further work on the eLSC. We have advised a number of organisations about supporting research awareness, including the Thomas Coram Family, a DH funded research unit.

a live, and lively, network

The use of research in practice as a networked community increases daily. All 56 full member agencies are now part of our Link Officers email discussion group - asking for, and getting, information and tips on a wide range of topics. (The last three were community based respite services for disabled children, supporting young families to help young people stay at home and sports and arts initiatives for looked after children). Our annual Link Officers' meeting in October welcomed new Associate Members. Again, evidence based developments were a major theme, including Best Value reviews, adoption service reviews and human resources strategies. The discussion groups on the website are another way of sharing and increasing our learning.

auditing our progress and yours

We have just completed the first all-agency audit, which allows agencies to measure progress against their own benchmarks and compare outcomes with other members. Results were given at the Link Officers' meeting and will be posted in greater detail on the members' section of the website. Initial results are heartening and challenging: 74% have access to research journals, 30% utilise Journal Clubs to identify and discuss research, 58% of members say that research is used in some planning documents but only 16% of agencies identify discussion of research as an aspect of good supervision. The evaluation work is also producing an Action Pack to support evidence based team working and an Organisational Support Tool. Team working has been show to have a greater impact on the culture than relying on champions.

Quality Protects Research Briefing No 3

should have arrived on directors' desks. It focuses on children's participation. Don't forget that you can also view and print the contents from our website, see the fully referenced version and take part in related discussion groups. A recent review of the series is very positive: 'really like the approach overall: have introduced them in mentoring groups for newly qualified staff, and they have been a great success in validating reflective practice'. DH is considering whether to extend the series.

supporting ADSS

Celia Atherton has joined the Children and Families Committee and the Research Group. As a result, research in practice is; helping to organise a major partnership conference on the use of IT by service users and front-line staff and co-ordinating ADSS input into research topic thinking for the forthcoming £2m DH research initiative on the impact of Quality Protects.

in the next three months.

working with you from September 2001.

The ADSS Management Board of research in practice has carried out a thorough review of what has been achieved and of what would best suit their needs in today's climate. The plans for evolving our service are contained in a New Directions paper published in July and approved by the ADSS Executive. All current members will be offered the first opportunity to recontract as Partners. Membership is also available. Please contact Celia Atherton at the Dartington office if your agency is not working with us but would like to. Associate Membership continues to grow.

symposia 2001

Starting in January 2001 we are running six symposia in different parts of the country. Lead researchers will speak on latest research concerning prevention, disability and making connections, while member agencies run concurrent workshops to showcase evidence based developments they have made to improve outcomes in these areas (more than 30 examples so far). 1,250 places will be available and symposium reports will be posted on the website, where a full programme is available. First bookings must be in by 30 November.

workshops 2001

A new series of workshops begins in September 2001. If you have suggestions for titles that fit your business needs, please contact Jo Cooke at our Sheffield office.

quality assurance begins

In addition to our internal evaluation work and an independent evaluation of the audiotapes funded by Nuffield, we are planning to introduce a Quality Assurance element to our work. A Scrutiny Group has been formed and will meet in December. Results of our evaluation and quality assurance work are available to all.

website adds more threads

Since the relaunch in June we have added more research briefings, discussion groups, national policy website links (such as to the Quality Strategy paper) and have sent out website posters, mousemats and desktop guides to help busy staff, who may be unfamiliar with what the web can do for them, to use our site as a route to the best evidence. For a copy of these materials please email ask@rip.org.uk By Christmas we will have updated and added to the Register of Researchers (a unique aid for service providers), sketched out the map and contents of the EvidenceBank and loaded a series of development materials.

local and regional events

Together with the DH we are organising a South West seminar in Taunton on 19th January to explore the research and policy developments around leaving care. We are also taking part in local evidence based seminars in Portsmouth, Bolton, Dudley and Hampshire, supporting an NHS scooping exercise to see what can be learned about user involvement in research, and contributing to the findings of another NHS exercise to identify research skills and training needs necessary for closer working on primary health research.

for more information

about anything in this Quarterly Briefing or any other research in practice matter please contact:

Celia Atherton at research in practice,
Warren House
Warren Lane
Dartington
Totnes TQ9 6EG
Tel: 01803 867692
email: celia@rip.org.uk

Jo Cooke at research in practice,
Children and Families Research Group
Elmfield
University of Sheffield S10 2TU
Tel: 0114 222 6484
email: j.m.cooke@sheffield.ac.uk

If you have comments or suggestions, please contact Celia Atherton or one of the departmental directors on the Management Board:
Julie Jones - Chair (Westminster), Ray Jones (Wiltshire), Richard Jones (St Helens), or Penny Thompson (Sheffield).