Title: Centre for Care
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: The Centre for Care will provide new data to guide decision-making and practice in care, asking: How does care reinforce or redress inequalities? How does it play out in time and space for individuals or families living complicated, unpredictable lives? What could be done differently, for whose benefit and how? Our objectives are: A: To deliver an impactful, coproduced work programme with people who receive and/or require care, carers, care workers and partners / stakeholders, to inform understandings of care and promote the wellbeing of all. Care is a 'wicked' and complex issue, has become highly visible, and is debated globally. The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored its importance, highlighting longstanding and systemic problems in how care is organised and resourced that have led to inequalities and unmet need. We will coproduce our work with a wide range of policy and practice partners and work closely with people who require, receive and / or provide care. We aim to influence care practice and decision-making and ensure we make a positive difference to experience of care. B: To produce and publish a distinctive thematic programme of rigorous interdisciplinary research on care and caring, focused on systems, paid / unpaid contributions, inequality and diversity and sources of sustainability. We will publish books, articles and reports and make our data/findings accessible to a wide audience, recognising that care concerns everyone and that all have a stake in how care is arranged and provided. We will focus our studies on care trajectories and constraints; on inequalities in care; and on care workforce change. We will integrate this work with explorations of care as a complex, adaptive ecosystem and of developments in digital care, and by creating new data infrastructure. C: To exploit the potential of existing datasets and administrative data linkages, in collaboration with the Office for National Statistics, and develop mixed methods studies and a new survey of carers, using the Open Science Framework for the use of policymakers/other researchers. Existing datasets are under-analysed and the UK lacks a representative survey of carers.We will address these issues, adopting latest techniques in data linkage and in innovative mixed methods research, and working with partners and expert teams worldwide to push the frontiers of knowledge about care. D: To build research capacity on care in a bespoke programme of skills training and personal development, investing in a strong PhD student programme; offering mentoring and professional development opportunities to early career researchers and supporting mid/later-career staff to excel in research leadership. Within the Centre, collaboration, reflective practice and support to succeed will be at the heart of daily practice. The Centre and its teams will deliver a lasting legacy, building a new generation of researchers expert in the study of care. We aim for a long-lasting, productive and influential Centre that will also drive benefits for all involved through career progress and professional development, creating a sound foundation for continuous improvements in policy, practice and experience of care. E: To promote dialogue and knowledge exchange on challenges in care in a programme of online/media and other knowledge exchange activities that translate research into practice, working with care sector partners to inform the public about care and promote meaningful debate. Our impact strategy will ensure our work contributes to understanding of how care can be supported/delivered with positive outcomes and has influence among policymakers and practitioners. F: To collaborate with others: care sector partners, agencies with social care responsibilities, and relevant research and public policy centres in and beyond the UK. Our partnerships will guide the direction of the Centre's work and are key to our impact and capacity building strategies.

Lay abstract: The Centre for Care is a collaboration between the universities of Sheffield, Birmingham, Kent and Oxford, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Office for National Statistics, Carers UK, the National Children's Bureau and the Social Care Institute for Excellence. Working with care sector partners and leading international teams, it addresses the urgent need for new, accessible evidence on care. Arrangements for care, and people who need or provide care, are under unprecedented pressure. Quality, cost, unmet need and the situation of carers and care workers are central concerns. Care interacts with other systems in the NHS, jobs market and in policy on migration, welfare and housing. The cultures, values and public policies that determine eligibility for support and funding rules are also crucial, and 'shocks' like Covid-19 have profound and multiple effects. Together, these factors have led to fragmented care provision and unfair outcomes, and the need for reform is now widely accepted. The Centre for Care provides new evidence and thinking for policymakers, care sector organisations and for people who need or provide care. Its objectives are to: - work with people who need care, carers, care workers and others to produce studies that improve understanding of care and promote wellbeing; - publish robust findings on care systems, on paid and unpaid care, and on diversity, inequalities and sustainability in care; - exploit existing data and develop new studies, producing findings that policymakers and other researchers can use; - work with PhD students and emerging scholars, establishing a new generation of care specialists; - stimulate and inform public discussion of care and translate research into practice; and - collaborate with other care research teams, within and beyond the UK. In studying care, we focus on support, services and protections to promote the wellbeing of vulnerable or disabled people of all ages, and the networks, communities and systems that affect them. Our work will generate new knowledge on three major topics: 'Care trajectories and constraints: requiring, receiving and giving care' explores experiences of care at different life stages and as people transition between different parts of the care system. It also studies how giving or receiving care is affected when families are geographically dispersed. 'Inequalities in care: consequences, planning and place' uses latest statistical and data linkage techniques to learn how socio-economic, health and other inequalities shape experience of care, and the consequences of these for groups and individuals in different places and over time. 'Care workforce change: organisation, delivery and development' focuses on care worker recruitment and conditions; regulation and organisation of care work, including the introduction of new technologies; and efforts to improve job and service quality in care. Cross-cutting these studies, the Centre will also examine 'Care as a complex, adaptive ecosystem', 'Digital care' and Care data infrastructure', supporting the integration of all our research. This helps us develop new thinking on care inequalities, how care ecosystems operate and change, and the drivers and implications of digitalisation and other developments. It also enables us to exploit the UK's finest statistical datasets to produce compelling new insights on care and caring. Our multidisciplinary research team builds on a strong portfolio of care studies and is supported by researchers in nine other countries, all equally passionate about doing impactful research that can drive positive change in experience of care and caring. Our work is undertaken in partnership with care sector organisations and groups advocating on behalf of people who need care, carers and care workers. The Centre for Care is vibrant, innovative, and determined to make a positive difference through impactful, accessible research for all to use.

Research activity codes: 8.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE