Latest Research

---

The Centre for Social Work and Social Care Research was established in the Department of Applied Social Sciences in 2006. The Centre generates new research knowledge about social carework and contributes to the international evidence base.It gathers and analyses social care workforce information, and provides advice and guidance for policy makers, service providers / employers and service user and carer groups. The Centre provides a unique facility within Wales and works collaboratively with other centres and agencies with a social care focus and has established links with other research centres in the UK (eg the Social Care Workforce Research Unit at Kings College London, and the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the LSE, Kent and Manchester) and beyond (in particular Australia, Europe and North America).

The term 'social carework' is used to reflect contemporary thinking in the field, facilitate international comparative research, and to enable the Centre to encompass research into informal care as well as formally provided care services.

The Centre's focus is in three areas (selected examples are given in each area):

The Changing Social Care Workforce

• Reviews of the impact of changing care workforce practices
• Investigating the causes of recruitment and retention difficulties
• Evaluating systems for the routine collection of social care workforce data

Social Care Workforce Development

• Adequacy and usefulness of routinely collected data on SW education
• The role and quality of continuing professional education and development
• The evaluation of social work education and educators

Social Care Workforce Performance

• Assessment of the ways in which the work environment, team climate etc have an influence on outcomes for service users
• Evaluation of new work roles in social care

The Centre will be associated with Best Evidence for Best Care (BE4BC), a national initiative which aims to:

• Develop evidence-based social work and social care practice
• Improve the dissemination of research
• Ensure that operational staff are involved in setting the agenda for research and that both they and service users benefit from it
• Develop evidence-based practice that brings together the best of practitioner knowledge and expertise, knowledge from research, and information and expertise from service users.

Staff and Contact Information

Professor Peter Huxley
P.J.Huxley@swansea.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1792 602548

Dr Sherrill Evans
S.Evans@swansea.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer
Tel: +44 (0)1792 602605

Chris Baker
C.M.Baker@swansea.ac.uk
Senior Research Assistant
Tel: +44 (0)1792 602624

Sally Philpin
S.A.Philpin@swansea.ac.uk
Research Assistant
Tel: +44 (0)1792 602632

Jo White
J.White@swansea.ac.uk
Research Assistant
Tel: +44 (0)1792 602631

Karen Evans
K.J.Evans@swansea.ac.uk
Administrator
Tel: +44 (0)1792 602651