Care to chat? A podcast from the Northern Ireland Social Care Council

This is a podcast of conversations about social work and social care practice, registration and regulation in Northern Ireland.

Hosted by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (the Social Care Council), and presented by broadcaster Dr Wendy Austin, this podcast series showcases conversations and interviews with people in the social work and social care community, as well as from across the health and social care system. We discuss things that matter to social workers and social care workers, inform their learning and development, address common questions, and talk about what we can do to best support the safe delivery of quality health and social care in Northern Ireland.

If you have any comments or feedback on our podcast, please contact us by emailing: comms@niscc.hscni.net.

Listening and subscribing

You can listen to the podcast episodes directly in your browser by selecting the podcast title from the list below and then clicking the triangle ‘Play’ icon. Read more about each episode by clicking the ‘[…]’ icon.

Would you like to do something that makes a difference? Research is certainly one option you could consider. But what is social work and social care research and why is it important?

In this episode in the ‘Care to chat’ 2025 podcast series, a panel of experts have a lively conversation about how social workers and social care practitioners can build and maintain an evidence base to support their work.

Our host Dr Wendy Austin MBE speaks to experienced academics and professional voices, Anne McGlade, Social Care Research Lead, Northern Ireland Social Care Council, Professor Paula McFadden, Professor of Social Work, School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences, Ulster University, Maria Flannagan, Senior Social Work Practitioner, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and Lisa Morrison, Lisa Morrison Consultancy.

Ideal for students, practitioners, researchers or anyone interested in social work and social care, it looks at the importance of an evidence-based approach for people who access services and how evidence plays an important role in social work and social care practice, how evidenced-based practice can improve outcomes for services and communities and the resources and opportunities available to potential students, including people with lived experience and professionals to start their research journey.