Care management


and insights with parliamentary select committees, think tanks and government consultations.


We also produce a range of other


research evidence reports into key issues to support the sector and to inform our own work. Recently, this included our Evidence review and sector consultation to inform Skills for Care strategy, which was conducted to inform our new four-year strategy. This evidence review looks in depth at


the workforce issues and opportunities faced by the adult social care sector looking at 190 academic, policy and other research and intelligence sources, and involved 13 stakeholder consultations. This report not only helped to inform our


four-year strategy for Skills for Care, but will also inform the broader debate across the sector. The challenges and opportunities identified in this review are not new, and include: n Overcoming recruitment and retention problems.


n Workforce development. n Supporting workforce equality, diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing.


We used this evidence review to form and introduce our new strategy, and you can also use research evidence to inform how you operate.


Benefits of using research evidence Using research evidence can: n Save you time and money. n Increase confidence, integrity, and justification in decision-making.


n Build capacity for thinking about practice, to question and challenge with rigour.


n Support services to improve. n Contribute to your business case and accountability processes for changes.


n Support workforce planning and development.


The chances are, that you will already be using ‘evidence’ in your decision-making. Evidence can include findings from research, organisational learning, financial reports, local intelligence, feedback from people using your services and their families.


Evidencing informed practice means interpreting and personalising this evidence in a way that is sensitive to your specific context, taking into account: n The culture and values of your organisation.


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n Your organisational business and sustainability needs.


n The needs of people to who you provide care and support.


n Local and national policy demands.


Research evidence will be able to help you: n Find out more about what others have learned before implementing changes of your own – you can learn what works and what does not.


n Identify characteristics of good practice when you want to do something different or new hear more about potential barriers to success based on what others have experienced.


n Find out more about the impact of particular approaches or programmes.


Remember good research evidence always requires interpretation and reflection – it does not speak for itself and cannot be used in isolation. At Skills for Care, high-quality data is core to informing the work that we do to support the sector and to drive forward positive change.


So, as part of this, we want to do all we can to support stakeholders and decision makers at all levels to interpret and utilise data to inspire positive change and improvement for their organisations and the wider sector. You can find out more about our data and research and how to utilise this on our website: https://www. skillsforcare.org.uk/ascwds.


Emily Muir


Emily Muir has been head of policy and public affairs at Skills for Care since October 2020. Prior to joining Skills for Care, she was supporting the COVID-19 pandemic response at Public Health England. Emily worked at the CQC in parliamentary engagement and policy across health and social care for four years, including directly with the chief executive as their policy adviser. Emily is a trustee at Mental Health Resource in Kent. She has a B.Sc. in biomedical sciences from the University of Warwick, during which time she worked part-time as a personal assistant supporting children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism.


n www.thecarehomeenvironment.com April 2022


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