Supporting more of a research culture in adult social care

Project Background

This project aims to improve adult social care in Derbyshire by shifting to a culture of co-production with citizen and practice leadership at the forefront of design and delivery.

We want to build on current co-production approaches to develop a participatory, research-led culture that uses evidence to inform strategic thinking and continuous improvement in adult social care. The host organisation supporting this project is Derbyshire County Council (DCC).

IMPACT Factfile

What are the aims and objectives?

IMPACT is working with DCC to explore how research, evidence, and lived experience can be used together to improve services. Led by two IMPACT Senior Strategic Improvement Coaches, the project brings DCC staff, people with lived experience who have learning disabilities, and third sector partners together to test (or trial) a co-produced way of working (a Community of Practice) that could be used more widely across the council.

The project aims to leave DCC with practical tools and shared learning to support more inclusive, evidence-informed improvement in the future. There will also be opportunities to share learning in different formats for different audiences.

What we’re doing

This project involves two main groups: the CORE group and the Community of Practice group. Click below to learn how they operate.

What
  • Share stories and experiences
  • Explore and learn about research (what it is, how to do it, why & how it’s useful)
  • Explore how research can support decision-making and practice
  • Test out working as a community of practice that includes people with lived experience who have a learning disability and a focus on research
  • Learn how research can support the ways that ‘we’ (staff & people with LD lived experience) make decisions?
  • Explore how a service might be improved?
  • Learn about how research integration works in other parts of the country
Who is involved
  • Four members of the Reps on Board group
  • Adult social care professionals (e.g. social workers, commissioning officer, stakeholder engagement team, day services staff)
  • A representative from a third sector partner organisation
  • IMPACT’s Senior Strategic Improvement Coaches
How (We run the CoP Group)

The CoP group is meeting monthly, using a test, learn and reflect model. Different topics are covered at each meeting based on participants’ stories, interests, and needs that are related to research.

What
  • Help keep the project on track with advice, support, sign-off and approval for larger decisions
  • Communicate the aims & progress of the project within our networks & more broadly
  • Reflect together & share our learnings from the project with each other and externally regularly
  • Learning about how research integration works in other parts of the country
Who is involved
  • Assistant Director
  • Principal Social Worker
  • Service Managers
  • Group Manager
  • DCC Communications and Engagement Manager
  • IMPACT’s Senior Strategic Improvement Coaches
  • Public Health rep?
  • Children’s Rep?
How (We run the CORE Group)

The group meets weekly to make decisions together that drive and develop the project. Each CORE group member brings their unique expertise into the meeting, and we use that expertise to strengthen our decisions. We work collaboratively, ensure all voices are heard, and leave each meeting with clear next steps to keep the project moving forward.

Activities and next steps

With the Community of Practice group, we are co-producing a roadmap to creatively and accessibly share how we have worked. This will cover what we did at each session, reflections, questions, milestones and feedback.

We are also developing a practical blueprint for developing and taking a Community of Practice approach to service improvement, with a focus on using research, evidence, and co-production to support this. Recommendations will be made on how to set up a CoP like ours and the benefits, challenges, and what is needed to make it happen.

Over March and April, we held two additional Community of Practice (CoP) meetings, alongside our ongoing weekly CORE meetings with leaders from DCC.

Across both sessions, the focus was on learning and reflection through practical, hands-on activities. CoP members engaged in active research exercises, which highlighted that while research can feel challenging at the outset, with the right support, discussion, and practice, participants were able to build confidence and uncover valuable insights.

Through these activities, we also identified several common obstacles to engaging with research. These were openly discussed, alongside practical strategies to address and overcome them.

Participants explored how research is currently being used in practice and worked collaboratively to develop workflow maps. These maps focused on:

  • When research is (or could be) used
  • Why research may not always be used

Overall, the sessions supported the group to:

  • Better understand current and potential use of research
  • Identify what is already working well
  • Highlight areas for improvement
  • Generate practical advice and recommendations to make research more accessible and embedded in future practice

We also delivered our first and second Learn and Reflect sessions with practitioners from the CoP group. These sessions provide practitioners from the CoP group with the opportunity to explore work-related topics in greater depth, beyond the core focus of the group. These sessions support personal development by creating dedicated time and space to reflect on complex challenges, build skills, and strengthen approaches that can be applied in everyday practice.

Meet Our Demonstrators: Marion Oveson & Gordon Waigand

Marion Oveson

Hello! I’m French-American and have lived in Sheffield since 2010. I’m an academic researcher by training and have a background in community development, as well as facilitation, co-production, and evaluation consultancy. My academic and consultancy work has involved working with, in, and between communities, the 3rd sector, and HE. In my last project I helped to co-design, pilot, and evaluate a training course for health and social care practitioners supporting migrant communities. 

    Gordon Waigand

    I am a Social Worker with a background in Adult Social Care, specialising in learning disabilities, transition services, and provision for older adults. For most of my 30-year career, I have held senior management positions within public services. Based in Derbyshire, I am originally from Germany and have lived in the UK for the past 30 years. More recently, I have worked as a consultant with local authorities, supporting the development of their adult social care departments.