Title: Kent Research Partnership – building research capacity in adult social care
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Why is the partnership needed?_x000D_ _x000D_ The Kent Adult Social Care Partnership will support the social care sector in our region by conducting high quality research relating to local social care priorities and finding out what works best and for whom to improve the outcomes for service users and their carers. The demand for social care is high in Kent and we need skilled staff to provide good quality care but recruiting and retaining social care staff is challenging. This partnership will invest in and value the social care workforce by: training and learning opportunities, co-developing career pathways, and supporting innovation in practice. _x000D_ _x000D_ What are the aims of the partnership?_x000D_ _x000D_ The Kent Adult Social Care Partnership (KASCP) aims to improve the quality of social care by:_x000D_ _x000D_ • identifying research priorities to inform service change from the ground up;_x000D_ • working with staff, users and carers to develop research ideas;_x000D_ • share knowledge and resources, through accessible training and workshops; _x000D_ • co-producing and evaluating three high quality projects led by social care colleagues._x000D_ _x000D_ What will the partnership do to meet the aims? _x000D_ _x000D_ Over a 4 year period, the partnership will meet its objectives through four interlinked streams of work:_x000D_ _x000D_ 1. Communities of Practice (COP): COPs bring together people who have different expertise but a shared goal (e.g. sharing best practice, research and learning) and have been used in health as a means of generating and sharing knowledge and implementing evidence-based practice. COPs can break down organisational barriers (e.g. between academics, KCC and providers) to knowledge sharing and practice improvement. The COPs will be supported by the partnership team and facilitated by the Researchers in Residence._x000D_ _x000D_ 2. Researchers in Residence (RiRs): situated at both KCC and the University of Kent, we will recruit two full-time RiRs to establish and facilitate COPs, identify research priorities and support pilot projects led by Research Fellowships._x000D_ _x000D_ 3. Research Fellowships: we will fund three fellowship to enable individuals working within social care to undertake research training and carry out pilot projects on adult social care priority areas_x000D_ _x000D_ 4.Knowledge Sharing and Impact: as well as through the mechanisms above, we will support dissemination and impact by providing access to research literature, bespoke resource kits, online training, and learning events. KASCP partners include national networks to ensure learning extends beyond our region. _x000D_ _x000D_ How will the partnership involve the public?_x000D_ _x000D_ Led by Kent County Council, we will bring together involvement groups from across the partnership. Service users, carers and the wider public will be involved in all elements of KASCP, including: _x000D_ _x000D_ • deciding local priorities in adult social care in Kent;_x000D_ • informing the selection, focus and running of the pilot projects;_x000D_ • sharing learning and dissemination._x000D_ _x000D_ How will we share what we learn?_x000D_ _x000D_ In addition to traditional academic publications, we will work with the sector to share information with the right people, at the right time, and in the best format. The COPs will develop freely available online training and resources. A Research in Practice Newsletter will be published quarterly to share learning across the COPs and promote partnership news. KASCP will work with other Social Care Partnerships nationally to share learning and host a showcase conference to share findings.

Lay abstract: Background: This proposal responds to an NIHR call to create social care partnerships, with the aim of building research capacity and improving care quality. We are proposing a Kent-based partnership. Demand for social care in Kent is high, as we have a population ageing faster than the national average and difficulties recruiting and retaining social care staff. This partnership will improve care quality by investing in and valuing the social care workforce, developing a culture of research and evidence-based practice, innovation and skills recognition._x000D_ _x000D_ Methods: We propose four inter-linked streams of work: _x000D_ _x000D_ 1) Communities of Practice (COPs): COPs bring together people who have different expertise but a shared goal (e.g. sharing best practice, research and learning) and have been used in health as a means of generating and sharing knowledge and implementing evidence-based practice. COPs can break down organisational barriers (e.g. between academics, KCC and providers) to knowledge sharing and practice improvement. The COPs will be supported by the partnership team and facilitated by the Researchers in Residence. _x000D_ _x000D_ 2) Researchers in Residence (RiRs): situated at both KCC and the University of Kent, we will recruit two full-time RiRs to establish and facilitate COPs, identify research priorities and support pilot projects led by Research Fellowships._x000D_ _x000D_ 3) Research Fellowships: we will fund three fellowship to enable individuals working within social care to undertake research training and carry out pilot projects on adult social care priority areas. Members of the team and the RiRs will assist with design and delivery of these projects and support further applications for funding._x000D_ _x000D_ 4) Knowledge Sharing and Impact: as well as through the mechanisms above, we will support dissemination and impact by providing access to research literature, bespoke resource kits, online training, and learning events. KASCP partners include national networks to ensure learning extends beyond our region. _x000D_ _x000D_ The partnership team includes senior managers and social care practitioners from Kent County Council, social care academics and researchers from the University of Kent and Brighton, social care provider representatives and a member of the public who will co-lead a ‘social care public involvement and engagement working group’ to support all of the partnership’s activities. The team are supported by no-cost applicants from the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) in Kent, Surry and Sussex and collaborators from the NIHR Clinical Research network (CRN). _x000D_ _x000D_ Timeline: April 2021-March 2025_x000D_ _x000D_ Impact and Dissemination: We expect this partnership to establish a culture of evidence-based practice and improve care quality by investing in the workforce and providing evidence to address locally important research priorities. To ensure maximum impact, we have proposed a whole work stream for impact and dissemination. As well as academic outputs, such as peer review publications and conference presentations, we have given considerable thought to pathways to wider impact, including: online training and resource kits, fully funded research and training workshops for practitioners, research fellowships, newsletters, lunchtime seminars/webinars and a showcase conference. We have also costed in time and meetings with other successful social care partnerships funded by this call and will use our national networks to maximise knowledge sharing.

Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES;8.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE