Below are details of the events research in practice for adults will be delivering with our Partner agencies. We have responded to feedback and developed an evidence-informed programme in consultation with Link Officers and Directors from across our network, and have linked our activities to the seven principles of the Government’s Vision for Adult Social Care.

To ensure that we meet our Partners’ changing needs and to increase the opportunities to take part we are offering a diverse range including remote access events, regional events and tailored events by request.

Partnership

Knowledge exchange workshops: Working Together

Working Together was identified by Partners as the focus for our third Change Project. In response to feedback from the network about difficulties in releasing staff to participate in a traditional Change Project, together with the changes in integrated working that are likely to arise out of the NHS White Paper, we have reshaped how we will approach this key topic to offer an action research project. This project will retain the essential elements of the Change Project methodology, bringing together evidence and practice to produce a resource for practitioners.

Jointly facilitated by Keith Sinclair, Princess Royal Trust for Carers and ripfa, these workshops focus on how to improve customer experience through better joint working. These workshops bring Local Authority staff and carers together, and are of interest to front-line practitioners and those working closely with customers, including carer leads. Three workshops have taken place in February – March and the final workshop will take place in April.

April 6. Stockport

National event: Working together

The findings from Working Together will be presented at a national event. We will share the main messages on how to improve carers' experiences and outcomes, and will use focus groups to explore how these findings can be disseminated more widely in ways that are truly accessible and have impact. At this event we will also launch our new evidence-informed guides for service users and carers to support you to manage expectations and to increase choice and control. This event is aimed at carers' leads, champions and commissioners, with your third sector partners.

September 15. Birmingham

Personalisation

Evidence-informed workshops: The experience of Change

We are providing tailored workshop to any region to support practitioners, managers or leaders with cultural change using Change Cards. This can incorporate activities to benchmark how far self-directed support is already embedded, and to action plan your next steps in consolidating this change.

The first workshop will focus on implementing self-directed support in mental health and is for practitioners, managers and providers from adult social care and health. The workshop will identify and validate where you are with the experience of change, explore the evidence of how self-directed support is being implemented in mental health, and support reflection and action planning about how you can support successful change.

September 21. Kendal, Cumbria.

The second workshop will focus on keeping the momentum going in services where self-directed support has been in place for a period, and is for practitioners and managers who are acting as champions to make the change to self-directed support successful.

October 19. Ealing, London

Further workshops by request.

People

Evidence-informed workshop: Using evidence to champion excellence in your team

Front-line managers are recognised in the Social Work Taskforce report as essential leaders of professional practice. Evidence-informed practice provides the framework, approaches and tools to support career-long learning and development. The last in our series of workshops with research in practice for first-line managers will take place in Exeter. It will focus on how evidence-informed practice supports managers to develop skills and knowledge for the benefit of service users and carers.

May 26. Exeter

Link Officers: Regional meetings

Link Officers are the essential bridge for our Partners to maximise the impact of the work that we do. To follow on from our electronic Link Officers Annual Meeting in March, we will be holding a series of regional meetings to support Link Officers across the network. This is ahead of our annual meeting later in the year. For the first time, we will be holding part of the meeting jointly with research in practice to capitalise on the shared interest in promoting evidence-informed practice, provide opportunities to consider some of the cross-cutting issues that affect both adult and children’s services, and share tips to make full use of membership.

July. 7 Midlands, 11 Yorkshire, 12 North West, 14 South West, 18 South East, 19 London

Change Project: Analysis and critical thinking in assessment

Analysis is essential to ensuring that information is understood and then translated into effective action to meet the outcomes service users and carers need. We will provide a one-day workshop to four Partners or regions that wish to learn more about the context, theory and evidence around effective analysis in social care, and to apply the practice principles research in practice has developed in this area. Learning from this will to on to inform a wider resource for the network.

The first two workshops will be held in the Midlands and in the South East. They are for front-line practitioners, senior practitioners and practice educators, as well as those who are supporting professional development.  It will present the practice and policy context that determine the need for good analysis and critical reflection, share learning about how they support professional judgement and good decision-making, and apply this to specific cases to understand how they support you to determine eligibility, manage risk and meet outcomes.

September 22. BVSC, Birmingham

November 2. Luton

Further workshops by request.

Evidence-informed practice: Individual support

We will support you with your whole service event by providing a stall with resources and web-site demonstration, and delivering a workshop on evidence-informed practice or one of our key projects. To access this offer, please contact us.

April – September by request

Productivity

Directors’ Policy Forum: Innovating within new funding structures

Our Directors’ Policy Forum brings leaders together to learn from and shape research and practice and to network. The focus this year will be on emerging funding models and how they support innovation and excellence. We will cover approaches such as social impact bonds, the role of private equity, payment by results and Community Budgets – all within the wider context of how the relationship between local government, the social sector and citizens is changing. We will examine what these new opportunities mean for innovation in the design of support and services, and what this means for the use and collection of evidence.

June 16-17. Nottingham

Prevention

Telephone Knowledge Exchange: Reablement

This structured meeting will allow Partners to discuss the evidence around what works in reablement and to share their expertise and practice knowledge. ripfa will then disseminate evidence, practice and examples across the network. This event is aimed at those with lead responsibility for implementing reablement.

July 7. Remote access

Following the success of this workshop, we are offering to repeat it in the Autumn by request.

Protection

Webcasts: Balancing personalisation with safeguarding

We will gather insights from experts by experience and launch a series of web-casts to share evidence and views and to stimulate discussion.

September 7, 14, 21, 28 Remote access

How to get involved

To find out more about any of these activities or resources, discuss your support, or give us your views or questions on our work, contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on 01803 869753

To book a place at an event, contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it