National School for Social Care Research

Set up by the Department of health, under the aegis of the National Institute for Health Research, the school will increase the evidence-base for adult social care practice. It will do this by undertaking high-quality primary research and by providing a focus for applied research in social care within the NIHR. The location of the school within the NIHR is recognition of the significant contribution that social care makes to the nation’s health.

The school will receive funding of £3m a year for five years in the first instance and will represent a centre of world-class research excellence. It will comprise a small group of intramural researchers already working in the field of social care and a larger body of extramural associates, including those with wider areas of relevant disciplinary or subject expertise.

It will undertake primary research on adult social care sector in England. It will cover the provision of social care by professional and non-professional staff working in both statutory and independent sectors. It will include research by social care professionals as well as academics, and encourage the active involvement of service users and their carers.

Professional social work will be a major focus, but it will not be the sole disciplinary resource for the school, whose work will need to draw on a wide range of academic disciplines and methodologies, including those typically under-applied to the social care context, yet central to understanding its operation.

Director: Martin Knapp
Address: None given
Telephone: None given
Website: www.nihr.ac.uk

Intellectual Focus
The School will undertake primary research on adult social care sector in England. It will cover the delivery of social care by professional and non-professional staff working in both statutory and independent sectors. It will include research by social care professionals as well as academics, and encourage the active involvement of service users and their carers.

Professional social work will be a major focus, but it will not be the sole disciplinary resource for the School. Its work will need to draw on a wide range of academic disciplines and methodologies, including those typically under-applied to the social care context, yet central to understanding its operation.