Introduction
Welcome to our Spring 2025 edition of the Knowledge Exchange Newsletter. As usual it is a pleasure to bring you up to date with some recent developments and news in relation to Research and Evidence, both locally and further afield. Locally we were very pleased with the recent success and outcomes from our 12th Social Work and Social Care Research Conference hosted at Riddel Hall, Stranmillis, Belfast.
We hope that you find the range of information, news and updates on activity interesting and relevant to the wider research and evidence agenda.
Thank you to everyone who has provided us with updates and information on new initiatives.
Yours sincerely,
Anne McGlade
Social Work and Social Care Research Lead
Social Care Council
“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
– Zora Neale Hurston
Our news
12th Annual Research Conference
The Social Work and Social Care Research Conference took place in Belfast recently, hosted by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council at Riddel Hall, at Queen’s University.
The biggest conference yet, attended by over 160 participants, the theme this year was ‘Making connections in research and evidence, collective leadership, workforce, planning change and service user involvement’.
You can view the full report of the conference, including keynote speech presentations here.
Save the date for 13th Annual Social Work and Social Care Conference 2026.
To stay up to date and for more details, join our mailing list here.
We can’t wait to celebrate with you again.
“The range of outstanding research projects was so impressive. The volume of practitioner led research into priorities for services sets a new era of research mindedness in social work practitioners and in their practice. I think education on research has enabled this growth.”
– Research Conference Delegate
Research and Evidence Partnership – Next steps in developing the next Research and Evidence Strategy
The third meeting of the Social Care Council’s Strategic Research and Evidence Partnership took place on 2 April.
The Chair, Professor Davy Hayes, from Queen’s University, reinforced the importance of the group:
“The Research and Evidence Partnership Committee holds a key role along with our colleagues in the Building Research Community in developing the next Research Strategy for Social Work and Social Care. Our ultimate commitment is that the work that we do brings real value to the profession and in doing so supports practice to the benefit of everyone in the community”.
The new research and evidence strategy created by this committee will continue to reinforce core values and research principles. It will be developed through a process of engagement, involvement, collaboration and consultation. The strategy’s mission and work will also be underpinned by the key tenets of diversity, equity and inclusion. This will ensure that we involve and include a broader range of people to achieve the full potential of research and evidence.
A facilitated workshop has been arranged for 27 May 2025 to progress the work. It is anticipated that the new strategy will be launched in mid-2026.
Board Members were also brought up to date with progress at the Board meeting of 30 April 2025.
Want to know more?
Information about the Social Care Council’s Board Committees and Partnerships, including minutes of meetings can be viewed here.
“To hear about current and research being conducted locally and to hear form new speakers and those new to research. this is always a highlight of the Social Care Council’s conference as often other events focus on ‘experienced’ speakers too much.”
– Research Conference Delegate
Social Work and Social Care PhD Network update
Another successful meeting took place at Social Care Council offices for the recently formed Social Work and Social Care PhD Network.
Members from across Northern Ireland came together to share their learning and provide peer support along their PhD journeys.
Moving forward the network hopes to have a hybrid model of engagement both online and face to face to include interested members outside of Northern Ireland. The next online meeting will be scheduled for August 2025, details to follow.
This network is inclusive for everyone. Those on their PhD journey, people who have finished, or for anyone who has ever considered doctoral study, we would love to hear from you. If you would like to be included in the ever-growing NI PhD network mailing list. Please contact Laura Doyle at: ldoyle14@qub.ac.uK or Liz Tanner at: Liz.Tanner@southerntrust.hscni.net.
Other news
Social Work and Community Development Approaches Programme (SWCDA) May 2025
Following funding from the Southern Trust, six new promotional videos have been produced by SlackPress on the impact of the post graduate community development approaches programme on social workers undertaking the course, their teams and the communities they work with.
On successful completion of the course, candidates gain a full Specialist Award from the Social Care Council and are receive 90 academic points from Ulster University towards a post graduate diploma/MSc in Professional Development in Social Work.
You can view the videos here.
Closing date for the 2025-2026 programme is 13 June 2025.
Evidence into Practice Special Interest Group (EIPSIG) at the European Social Work Research Association
As part of the pre-conference event in Munich at the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA Conference) EIPSIG hosted a pre-Conference meeting on Wednesday, 12 March 2025.
You can find full details on the group here.
The meeting included two keynote presentations aimed at getting evidence into practice with small practical steps.
Supporting social work practitioners and those with lived experience, through training to use evidence to practice was delivered by Anne McGlade Social Care Research Lead (Social Care Council) and Brian Taylor Professor Emeritus (Ulster University).
Can standardized screening tools be introduced in routine social work practice to increase equity and effectiveness in assessments? The story (so far) of project STAR in Denmark was delivered by Dr Kresta M. Sørensen, Associate Professor, Dr Siddhartha Baviskar (University College Copenhagen) and Professor Svein Arild Vis (UIT The Artic University of Norway).
Both presentations generated excellent interest and lively discussion by participants.
For a copy of either presentation, please email: EiPSIG@hscni.net.
Creative plans are underway for 2025-2026 including another online seminar.
For any further information about the Special Interest Group, please contact the convener Anne McGlade: EiPSIG@hscni.net.
Social Care Impact Awards
Are you a small, user-led organisation, or a small voluntary or community organisation that works in social care? Do you need support with quality, efficiency or improvement or perhaps with your safeguarding processes, but haven’t got the budget for this?
Why not submit an entry to this free to enter Social Care Impact Awards and be in for a chance to win one of SCiE’s 39 prizes?
Click here for more information.
“Research must continue to be the centrepiece of intellectual life, and our commitment to research must grow, because our problems are growing.”
– Ernest L. Boyer
The Curiosity Partnership
The Curiosity Partnership has announced the launch of a branch new free course: Curiosity in Action: First Steps in Social Care Research.
The aim of this course is to ignite a passion and interest in research, and to help build knowledge and skills that will help bring research into work and career settings.
People doing this course might do so for a number of reasons, including:
- To learn how to find and review evidence in an area of work.
- To inspire and champion others to engage in research.
- To understand the research landscape and see how research is designed, reviewed, funded and undertaken.
- To explore how research differs to other ways of answering tricky questions.
- Or, perhaps someone might want to take formal steps towards winning awards to undertake research placements, Masters or Doctoral level study, and even lead on research grants?
If this is you, this course is the first step you need to take. It will enable you to be more research aware, and be able to talk about research in your area.
If this course might be of interest to someone or a group you know or a group you know of, please feel free to circulate.
Click here for more information.
If you are interested in this course, please complete this application form by 11am on Thursday 26 June 2025, or for more information contact: curiosity-partnership@york.ac.uk.
Opportunities to strengthen community development teaching in undergraduate social work programmes: an international curriculum comparative case study analysis. Social Work Education.
Fergal O’Brien, Southern Health and Social Care Trust alongside Dr Danielle Mackle, Queen’s University and Dr Katheryn Margaret Pascoe, University of Otago, New Zealand presented the study below to our latest Research Conference.
You can see the abstract here.
Click here to view the presentation.
Welfare inequalities and Adult Safeguarding in residential care
Lorna Montgomery, Queen’s University, Prof Lisa Bunting, Queen’s University and Laura Doyle, IMPACT NI have successfully published their second study on Welfare inequalities and Adult Safeguarding in residential care.
Click here to view the study.
Further reading
The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland
A great resource for health and social care professionals with free library and information services, expert advice and training to support patient care, evidence-based practice and Continuous Professional Development.
Social Work Current Awareness Bulletin March 2025.
Social work Supplement March 2025.
National Institute for Health and Care Research
The NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research.
Working in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public – we fund, enable and deliver world-leading health and social care research that improves people’s health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth.
We are also a major funder of applied health research in low and middle income countries, work that is principally funded through UK government international development funding.
Click here for more information.
Research & Development Division Office
Improving health and social care through research.
Click here for more information.
University College Cork – Practice Links
Practice Links is a free @UCCsocialwork publication for practitioners working in Irish social services, voluntary, community and non-governmental sectors. Practice Links supports practitioners to keep up-to-date with new publications, electronic publications, conferences, social media, apps, and continuing professional development opportunities. Practice Links is published every other month.
Practice Links can be viewed here.
IMPACT – Improving Adult Care Together
IMPACT is the UK centre for implementing evidence in adult social care. Working across the four nations and with co-production at its heart, we draw on insights from research, lived experience, and practice knowledge to make a difference to front-line services, and to people’s lives.
Click here to learn more about IMPACT.
Produced by the Social Care Council Research Team.
For any queries, questions or contributions please email: andriana.alkiviadou@niscc.hscni.net.