Unique partnership involving residents, councils and universities join forces to tackle social care issues

The four-year Curiosity Partnership has received more than £1m from the National Institute for Health and Care Research to address some of the key issues around social care in the region, including: 

• how to support people to live independently at home
• living with dementia 
• Issues around loneliness and isolation for older people
• how can we help older people live life to the full, even in the presence of frailty, health or memory problems

Partnership

The local authorities of York, Doncaster, North Yorkshire and Hull will join leading academics from the universities of York, Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle to spearhead the partnership.

The project team will explore research priorities and train up council staff and academics in research techniques.

They will also ask local residents to take part in the project to help decide what the big research questions should be and join specialist teams to help answer them.

Professor Yvonne Birks  at the University of York’s Social Policy Unit, said: “We are thinking big and thinking differently when it comes to the future of social care, and we are hoping local communities can play their part in this incredibly important project.”

“The Government has invested heavily in health research, but less so in social care. Social care research is now a high priority but councils and universities need to build capacity and infrastructure to deliver ambitious research for the future.”

Innovative

Gemma Laister, Principal Social Worker, Hull City Council Adult Social Care, said: “Hull City Council are delighted and excited to be part of this innovative partnership, increasing capacity for research in conjunction with the communities within Hull.

“Evidence based research is essential to the continued development of Adult Social Care, delivering positive and effective outcomes, and so the voice of the community within this is paramount. We are really looking forward to the evolution of this project and championing opportunities and interest in research within our area.”

Cllr Carol Runciman, Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care at City of York Council, said: “Residents have told us that they want to live independently in their own homes for as long as they can.

“Delivering the support that enables residents to do that comes from working with community and voluntary organisations, to co-design local solutions, together with providing statutory services.

 “We’re delighted to bring our experience and expertise to the Curiosity Partnership to research new ways to support our residents.”

Support

Cllr Michael Harrison, executive member for adult services at NYCC, said: “Social care is one of our greatest challenges; therefore we are delighted to be involved in this four year research project alongside colleagues elsewhere in the region, to better understand the issues our residents face daily.

“The social care needs of the population are as important to us as it is to those who benefit from assistance and we hope this research will inform decisions that enable people to live independently for longer through better care and support.”

Phil Holmes, Director of Adults, Health and Wellbeing (DASS) at Doncaster Council, said: “We are extremely proud to have a role in this research partnership which will provide invaluable evidence to help shape the future of adult social care.

“The partnership seeks to deliver collaboratively with social care staff and, even more importantly, people within our communities who can help us learn from their experiences of the social care system.”

Further information:

The Curiosity Partnership

The partnership will be launched at a free Adult Social Care Research Festival at The Principal hotel in York on Thursday 23rd June. Registration for the festival is now open via Eventbrite.

Find out more about taking part in the project.

 The NIHR

The mission of the NIHR is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:

• Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
• Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
• Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
• Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
• Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
• Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.

NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.