Bringing Social Care to Life: Stories, Data, and Action in Northwest London
Bringing Social Care to Life: Stories, Data, and Action in Northwest London
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On Wednesday, 2nd April 2025, the ARC NWL Social Care Team welcomed 70 guests to their first conference as part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Northwest London (NWL) Social Care Research Capacity Building Programme.
The conference was open to anyone interested in Social Care Research in Northwest London and celebrated one year since the programme launch. Attendees came from a range of social care organisations, community organisations, academic organisations, public members, local authorities and the NHS.
The conference had several key themes and aims that were addressed throughout the day, including:
Sharing social care research that is happening in North West London, bringing this research to life
Sharing lessons and practices about what works well in building research cultures and capacity for evidence-enriched practice in social care organisations across North West London
Enhancing research capacity building and skill development for research in social care.
NIHR funded us to deliver an essential two-year developmental programme to extend the infrastructure and capacities for social care research across Northwest London.
The programme is led by Professor Fiona Verity, Brunel University of London, working in collaboration with ARC NWL.
Professor Fiona Verity, Brunel University of London and Ganesh Sathyamoorthy, ARC NWL, opened the day and welcomed our attendees. Fiona noted:
"In recent years, there has been a welcome government focus on increasing the attention on social care research as part of the evidence needed for better social care.
There is much to do to realise this agenda, including:
According greater recognition and respect to social care (across its diversity of unpaid carers and the many different providers);
Making time and space to think about research and meaningfully link people, practitioners and researchers;
Ensuring the social practices of research bring about positive and inclusive change, and in the words of Professor Chris Whitty and Dr Louise Wood, ‘tackle the ingrained injustices that exist in the world of research in terms of who is involved, engaged or participating’ (2021 ), to which I add what the research is about." - Professor Fiona Verity
Professor Fiona Verity, Brunel University of London
Keynote address
Keynote address
The inspiring and engaging Keynote Address titled Bridging Macro and Micro Data: Insights For Social Care From Large Datasets And The Life Histories Of Older Minoritised People was delivered by Professor Christina Victor and Dr Mike Thomas, Brunel University of London. They discussed emerging findings from the Socially Inclusive Ageing Across the Lifecourse study.
Showcasing Research Across North West London
Showcasing Research Across North West London
Next were two parallel breakout sessions showcasing social care research with connections to Northwest London. Attendees chose between Presentation Session 1 and Session 2 and had the opportunity to hear from the following speakers on various interesting topics.
Session 1 – Chaired by Dr Cristina Asenjo Palma
Session 1 – Chaired by Dr Cristina Asenjo Palma
Dr Gary Bellamy (Hammersmith & Fulham Local Authority): HER-STORY Study: Voices of Women in Probation Services - Exploring Practices, Preventing Recidivism & Enhancing Quality of Life Through Lived Experiences
Sandeepa Arora (Imperial College London): Linking Health and Social Care Data to Study Outcomes for Children in Need and Children Looked After in Northwest London (NWL)
Session 2 – Chaired by Dr Arlene Weekes
Session 2 – Chaired by Dr Arlene Weekes
Dr Shadreck Mwale (Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory - University of West London): Examining the support needs of African and African-Caribbean people living with dementia within Adult Social Care Services: an ethnographic study in the UK
Dr Wendy Martin (Brunel University of London): Sound, Environment and Ageing: Bringing the Outside into Care Homes
Peer Led Storytelling
Peer Led Storytelling
Following a networking lunch, Mariah Cannon from the Institute of Development Studies was next to discuss Peer Led Storytelling: Insights on Embedding Community In Research On The Social Determinants Of Health. This work is being undertaken as part of the NIHR-funded Health Determinants Research Collaboration Ealing.
What Social Care Research Can Learn From The Development of the Ethnicity And Health Unit?
What Social Care Research Can Learn From The Development of the Ethnicity And Health Unit?
In the final plenary session, Ganesh Sathyamoorthy, Assistant Director at NIHR ARC NWL, explored how the Ethnicity and Health Unit (EHU) developed from an initial idea at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 into a fully-fledged unit at Imperial College London by Jan 2021. The EHU aims to address challenges and act as a beacon of real-life change, with the vision of advancing health equality for ethnically diverse communities through cutting-edge research.
The final speaker was Jazz Browne, Chief Executive of Nubian Life, who shared a powerful presentation addressing the question, ‘Can Health And Social Care Research Improve Health Outcomes And Create Agency Within Marginalised Communities?’
Talking Together
Talking Together
To bring the day to a close, Dr Cristina Asenjo Palma led a workshop where people discussed what works well in building research cultures and capacity for using a range of evidence in social care organisations and what needs to be done to nurture green shoots.
Reflecting on a powerful day
Reflecting on a powerful day
The day concluded with reflections from Claire Thomas, a longstanding member of Brunel University Experts by Experience (BEC) and Brunel Patient, Public and Engagement Group (PPIE). Claire wrapped up the day by sharing some reflections, which are below:
Call to action: Throughout the day, there was a repeated 'Call to Action' to raise awareness of the need for and importance of social care research. Key words heard throughout were empowerment, community action and the impact of sharing experiences.
Individual action: Several speakers showed how, as individuals, we can all make a difference, especially by 'being present within our own communities'.
Data Collection: Such an essential building block of research and the delivery of effective services, yet it is rarely 'joined up'. Sandeepa Arora shared her work with anonymised data of children in Northwest London, and who would have thought data collection could generate so much interest? If lunch hadn't beckoned, it seemed the questions would have continued...
Collecting Stories: So many speakers showed how 'Collecting Stories' was a powerful tool, tapping into the individual life experience, using creative approaches that were so effective and sharing the impact of audio presentation: real voices of real people!
We want to thank all who attended and all the members of the Conference Organising Committee: Claire Thomas, Dr Arlene Weekes, and Billy Hopkins, Dr Cristina Asenjo Palma, and Graham Ainsley.
The Social Care Research Team has a lot planned for the upcoming months, including events and training opportunities. Please visit our page to find out more about upcoming events.
You can also join our mailing list for the latest Social Care Research Capacity Building Programme updates, including upcoming events and opportunities.
Highlights from the Day
Highlights from the Day
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Associated Theme:
This news story is associated with our Social Care Theme
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