About 29 months ago we set out to revolutionise the way in which knowledge was exchanged in social care, particularly between researchers and professionals… OK not quite what we were officially intending; we just wanted to explore what worked and how to remove the barriers that seemed to exist (or where believed by some to exist perhaps), and – with any luck – move from talking to action

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12/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 1/9The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (todate…)About 29 months ago we set out to revolutionise the way in whichknowledge was exchanged in social care, particularly betweenresearchers and professionals… OK not quite what we wereoﬃcially intending; we just wanted to explore what worked andhow to remove the barriers that seemed to exist (or wherebelieved by some to exist perhaps), and – with any luck – movefrom talking to action.Why? We’ve had a long standing interest in how research, practiceand policy work together to improve adult social care within thePersonal Social Services Research Unit(http://www.pssru.ac.uk/index-kent-lse.php) (PSSRU) at LSE, andvarious pieces of work have been undertaken exploring knowledgeexchange (KE) in social care. Then along came HEFCE’s ResearchExcellence Framework (http://www.ref.ac.uk/) with a view toputting impact ﬁrmly within its research assessment process, andthe NIHR School for Social Care Research(http://www.sscr.nihr.ac.uk/) (which PSSRU is involved in) wherethe aim was to improve the evidence base for adult social carepractice and to ensure that evidence was feeding into policy andpractice developments. We knew of the barriers and it seemedthat research and practice were moving along on parallel tracks tothe same destination. So in 2012 we sought funding from the12/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 2/9LSE’s Higher Education Innovation Fund and the SCEiP (Creatingan Impact: Social Care Research in Action) project was establishedto test what could work and how, and provide tools to supportgreater KE.Have we improved KE between researchers and practitioners insocial care (as well as others)? Do we now know the best methodsto use? SCEiP tested out a number of activities involving a largenumber of people, and we were lucky enough to have the scope todo that. There have been numerous times when we’ve stopped,reﬂected and realised that we’ve barely scratched the surface.That’s partly because improving the way knowledge is exchangedis not something we can do alone. At our ﬁnal conference on 26November(http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/event/creating-an-impact-social-care-research-in-practice/) it was great to see a veryengaged room of 120+ people from a range of backgrounds all veryenthusiastic to … well make sure research “makes a difference”,and hopefully each of those people will have gone back and madesome (however small) improvement in the way they approach KEor more importantly how they approach their research or theirpractice. Perhaps that alone is not enough and one of the keylessons we came away from the project with is the need forreestablishing the foundations of research and practice ratherthan perhaps just trying to patch the knowledge exchange cracks…in an ideal world of course!We did learn a lot and have a number of recommendations – onevidence into practice (and vice versa), building research capacity,impact assessment. Some of these were drawn out in theexcellent visual note from Nat Al-Tahan at our ﬁnal conference,while others we will share in papers and blogs over the comingweeks. Here we share our current top six lessons.12/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 3/912/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 4/9So what would be the top six lessons we would put forward now?There are probably quite a few… but to brieﬂy limit to six:Plan: Somehow KE seems to be something that gets tagged on after aresearch project has been fully planned out. Maybe because it’ssomething research funders insist on but it’s still not clear how todo it or what actually works. Ensuring that KE activities areplanned within research processes – as part of each core researchactivity and as part of the timeline for the proposed study – is veryimportant and places research in a better position to have impact.Knowing that research does not end with KE: It seems the approach taken to KE is still that it’s something thathappens at the end of a study when ﬁndings are available,as dissemination. It isn’t. It can – and should – take placethroughout a research study from the development of theresearch question/proposal, telling the world the study isstarting, sharing updates throughout, discussing interim ﬁndings,and so on. If target audiences do not know a study is happening,by the time the results come out the topic or area may not berelevant to them anymore and most practice decisions will alreadyhave been made. The more engaging the research process, themore likely it is that target audiences will stay engaged and useﬁndings.Knowledge exchange needs time and resources: A commonbarrier put forward is the lack of time and resources for KEactivities. Yet funders want the research they fund to have impactand will fund clearly thought through KE activities relevant to theproposed project to support that. So why not ask them for thefunding and build in time for integrated KE activities in researchfunding proposals?12/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 5/9Know your audience and target knowledge exchange methods tothem: KE activities will not work if they are not targeted. Proposing touse social media for professionals without addressing the issuethat some face with lack of access to social media within worksettings, or writing policy briefs when a decision maker will onlyread 2-4 pages maximum and will want to focus on theimplications of those ﬁndings for them, may look good on paperbut do not work in practice. Ideally planning of the research – andintegrated KE activities – will take place with those audiences.Innovative knowledge exchange methods and traditionalmethods are not mutually exclusive: A KE activity targeted to professionals – such as a workshop orﬁndings summary – does not have to replace the production of ajournal paper. Arguments about not being able to do both areincorrect; academic and non-academic impact are not mutuallyexclusive. If planned appropriately with the right resources (timeand funding) both can be done and any research project will be thebetter for that.Evaluate: It is very important to evaluate the activities as they take placeand build in an evaluation process/framework in planning stages.Not knowing that an activity did or did not work – and why – untilafter a research project ends will not allow for learning to supporttweaks in forthcoming activities.These are all interlinked and doing one will lead to the others quiteeasily. Putting the time in to think through the proposed study(what the aim is, who the target audiences are, what would workbest for those audiences, and resource implications) at theresearch proposal development stage will require some time, as12/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 6/9CommentYour email address will not be published. Required ﬁelds aremarked *Name * does developing a research proposal anyway, but will ensure thatany proposed study has the best possible start on its impactpathway, and then … its just a case of making it happen!3 thoughts on “The SCEiP project …. And six lessons(to date…)”1. Pingback: Consider impact early | Social Care Research Impact(http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/consider-impact-early/)2. Pingback: Blogging… a piece of cake… isn’t it? | Social CareResearch Impact(http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/blogging-a-piece-of-cake-isnt-it/)3. Pingback: Musings about involvement in research… | SocialCare Research Impact(http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/musings-about-involvement-in-research/)Leave a Reply12/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 7/9Post CommentEmail * Website (http://www.pssru.ac.uk/index-kent-lse.php)(http://reiﬁed.co)12/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 8/9This website arose out of activities from the Social Care Evidence inPractice project funded by the London School of Economics andPolitical Science's Higher Education Innovation Fund 5. The websiteitself was created with funding from, and is supported by, thePersonal Social Services Research Unit and the NIHR School forSocial Care Research.12/07/2017 The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…) |http://socialcareresearchimpact.org.uk/2015/02/06/the-sceip-project-and-six-lessons-to-date/ 9/9

The SCEiP project …. And six lessons (to date…)

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