At the Social Care Council, we provide researchers an opportunity to achieve real impact through supporting being part of a community that works together to build evidence-based programmes and policy and identifying and solving complex issues together.
To do this we have formed the ‘Building a Research Community’ network group.
Click here to view Terms of Reference.
This group was established in 2020 as part of the review of the first Social Work and Social Care Continuous Improvement Research and Evidence Strategy 2015-2020.
Since then it has grown into a vibrant network and in 2023 became part of the Social Care Council’s strategic research agenda.
The Social Care Council continues to recognise the group’s value and is committed to ensuring that it remains a valuable component of the future research and evidence landscape for the social work and social care workforce in Northern Ireland.
The aim of the group is to:
- Maintain a forum for engagement, collaboration, collation and exchange of ideas and good practice.
- Support accessible communications about the emerging research agenda and its implications for organisations, service users and carers.
- Play a lead role connecting the work of the regional strategic and the local research agendas including offering advice about infrastructure and capacity.
The group meets three times during the year.
PhD Sub group
Our PhD Support group was established in 2024
In the midst of all the thrill and excitement, students progressing doctoral studies can sometimes experience periods of worry confusion and tension. Maintaining confidence and motivation at such times can be difficult. Despite the invaluable support that academic advisors offer this level of academic study can feel like a very lonely place. Through sharing with others, who have similar experiences, you can gain a clearer perspective and identify more effective ways of managing the tension between personal and emotional issues and academic demands.
It remains an informal network as a sub group of the Research Community. It provides a safe, supportive place where peers can build relationships and share information, knowledge, hints and tips. It is relevant to those interested in social work and social care PhD students past, present and future in Northern Ireland.
If you are interested in finding out more or in joining this innovative, exciting venture, please forward your details to either Liz Tanner at: Liz.tanner@southerntrust.hscni.co.uk or Laura Doyle at: l.doyle1@ulster.ac.uk.
A scoping exercise undertaken in August 2025 – October 2025, to establish further details, revealed that between 2020-2025 there are 34 students have completed or are still currently completing their academic study at Doctoral Level.
Please see below presentations from our most recent Research and Evidence activity that our members have presented at our Research Community meetings.
Details are included on the presentations should you wish to make direct contact.
Bridging the Gap – Translating Public Health Evidence into Urban Policy
Presented by:
Rutendo Gwaka,
Healthcare Management PhD
Examining the opportunities for establishing a national training program for practice educators in social work education
Presented by:
Katheryn Margaret Pascoe,
University of Otago
Centre for Child, Youth and Family Welfare
Presented by:
Dr Mandi MacDonald,
Professor, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast
IMPACT NI
Presented by:
Laura Doyle
Family Time/Contact Framework
Presented by:
Edel Morgan, Assistant Commissioning Lead LAC SPPG and Maria MacInnes, Service Improvement Manager, CSW Tusla
Centre of Effective Services (CES)
Presented by:
Dearbhaile Slane, Project Specialist, CES
Paramedic perceptions of barriers and facilitators to the use of ambulance service appropriate care referral pathways in Northern Ireland
Presented by:
Julia Wolfe, Karl Bloomer, Jamie Scott and Rebecca Smyth, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
Give us a Chance: We can be Resilient – Transforming the Lives of Young People
Presented by:
Noel Wilson
All-Ireland Social Work Research Consortium
Presented by:
Kerry Cuskelly, Niamh Flanagan and Eavan Brady, All Ireland Social Work Research Consortium
Dementia analytics: Using big data to understand dementia in Northern Ireland
Presented by:
Alan McMichael
Migrant families of children with disabilities in Northern Ireland: the state of research on social support
Presented by:
Noah Agbo, PhD Social Work Candidate School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast
Co-design of an online resource to support the resilience of staff working in the social care sector
Presented by:
Christine Brown Wilson, Principal Investigator and Dr Anita Mallon, Research Fellow, Queen’s University Belfast
Service User Involvement in
Criminal Justice Social Work:
the theory, the practice and
the ‘real world’ challenges
Presented by:
Gillian Montgomery, Director of Operations, Probation Board for Northern Ireland
A large exploratory survey of electroconvulsive therapy recipients, family members and friends
Presented by:
Lisa Morrison, Training and Consultancy
Introduction to Office for Research Ethics Committees (NI) and the NHS/HSC Research Ethics Service
Presented by:
Dr Karen Beattie, Office for Research Ethics Committees (NI)
Interested in being part of this group?
The ‘Building a Research Community’ network group accommodates discussion of new ideas, emerging or innovative approaches to research methodology, and presentations of ongoing and completed research and/or evidence studies that relate to social care and social work. If this sounds like you why not join us?
If you are interested in building networks with other researchers and academics, or if you want to find out more about the research, evidence and innovation activity that is going on in Northern Ireland, contact us at: swresearchsistrategy@hscni.net.