ESRC and HF supports new adult social care centre

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, and independent charity, The Health Foundation, have joined forces.

They will be supporting the creation of a centre called IMPACT (Improving Adult Care Together). It will be the first centre of its kind in the UK.

The centre will:

• lead the way in helping people working in adult social care, carers, and the people they support make better use of high-quality, practice-based evidence to support innovation in social care
• build capacity and skills in the adult social care workforce
• help develop sustainable and productive relationships between all of those working across adult social care
• improve our understanding of what helps or hinders when putting evidence into practice.

The centre will receive funding of £15 million over the next six years, with equal contributions from ESRC and the Health Foundation.

The joint venture between ESRC and the Health Foundation means the two organisations can pool their expertise and experience in supporting innovation.

They can also spread successful ideas to support the improvement of care beyond traditional boundaries.

Recognising the combined value of good practice and robust evidence from different sources, the centre will bring together a range of people from across the UK to help achieve its aims. These include:

• people with lived experience of social care
• people providing unpaid care
• people working in adult social care
• experts in the mobilisation and implementation of research evidence
• social care providers
• commissioners and policy experts
• academic teams from across the UK.

To read more see the ESRC website.