The School for Social Care Research
The School for Social Care Research (SSCR) is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The University of Birmingham joined the School in 2019. The SSCR is a current partnership between 7 centres in social care research in England, The Universities of Birmingham, York, Bristol, Kent and Manchester, Kings College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science. SSCR is a key part of the broader adult social care research taking place within the School of Social Policy and Society.
The University of Birmingham’s social care researchers will join the School to help shape its strategy and undertake ground-breaking research to improve practice.
The School funds adult social care research and training for researchers wanting to find out more about the best ways to improve social care practice. It brings together leading academic centres for social care research in England, and supports internationally leading research in social care to improve the wellbeing of people needing care and support.
Researchers in the School of Social Policy and Society at the University of Birmingham have a strong track record of research into reducing, delaying and preventing the need for social care and exploring alternative types of care. Membership of SSCR provides an opportunity to build on existing strengths in research into wellbeing and prevention; funding care appropriately; designing effective care markets; and improving integration with health services.
SSCR funded projects:
"When the money runs out": capital depletion and transition out of self-funded care. (2021 - 2024) Principal Investigator: Dr Philip Kinghorn, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Applied Research. Co-investigators: Dr Rebecca Ince, University of Birmingham, Dr Denise Tanner, University of Birmingham, Dr Kate Baxter, University of Birmingham and Anne Hastings, Age UK Solihull.
Social Work with Older People. (2021 - 2023) Principal Investigator: Dr Denise Tanner, Associate Professor of Social Work.
Combining Asset and Strengths Based Innovations in adult social care (CASBI) (2019-2022). Professor Jerry Tew, University of Birmingham (Principal Investigator), Professor Robin Miller, University of Birmingham (Co-investigator), Dr Sandhya Duggal, University of Birmingham (Co-investigator), Dr Phil Kinghorn, University of Birmingham (Co-investigator) and Clenton Farquharson MBE, Chair of the Think Local Act Personal partnership board (PPI lead)
Understanding the Contribution of Social Enterprise to the Social Care Sector: An Exploratory Study. (2017 - 2021) Principal Investigator: Dr Kelly Hall. Co-investigators: Dr Philip Kinghorn, Dr Chloe Alexander, Kelly Hayward.
Development of a decision support tool for older people who pay for social care, and their families. (2021 - 2023) Principal Investigator: Kate Baxter (University of York). Co-investigators: Yvonne Birks (University of York), Lyndsay Lindley (University of York), Mark Wilberforce (University of York), Dr Louise Overton (Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, University of Birmingham) Professor Dawn Dowding (Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, School of Health Science, University of Manchester), Dr Maxin Watkins (School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham).
Understanding the Social Care Assessment Journey of Older LGBTQ+ People. Principal Investigator: Jason Schaub (University of Birmingham). Co-investigators: Dr Dora Jandric (University of Birmingham), Dr Stephen Hicks (University of Manchester), Dr Paul Willis (University of Bristol), Professor Ben Thomas (Opening Doors), Sallie Johnson (University of Birmingham), Izzy Pullen (University of Birmingham), Dorothy Gould (University of Birmingham), Martin Wells (University of Birmingham), Julian Hargreaves (University of Birmingham), Cecilia Dubois (University of Birmingham), Tracie Hammond (University of Birmingham), Stephen Airey (University of Birmingham).
Councillors and Care: Understanding and enhancing the role of councillors in shaping adult social care practice. (2021-2023) Principal Investigator: Catherine Needham (University of Birmingham). Co-investigator: Catherine Mangan (University of Birmingham).