
Working with adults and carers
We produce a range of learning resources and events to support people working with adults and carers.
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- Our year in review (2020-21)
- Working with adults and carers
We develop a range of evidence-informed learning resources designed for professionals working with adults, families and carers; tailored to individual and organisational learning and development needs.
Our annual Delivery Programme is developed in consultation with the national adults Partnership network in order to ensure our work actively reflects the needs and priorities of our Partners and the sector. In addition, as part of our responsive learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, this year we provided a range of additional online material and virtual events across the year.
Topics to support practice
In 2020-21 we produced publications, online events and learning resources on several key topics including:
- Lived experience
- Mental capacity, risk and human rights
- Practice development
- Strengths-based working
- Additional resources.
Click and drag left and right on each topic area to view the resources.
Lived experience
Involving the voice of lived experience is essential in social care practice and policy. Understanding the views of people where there may be barriers to participation is key to ensuring services are designed, developed and delivered so that people are supported to lead the lives they want to lead.

Working together, learning together: A lived experience guide to co-production – Podcast
This podcast considers co-production, how the discussion around it is still quite theoretical, and what it really means for people with lived experience.
Experts by Experience at the Bridge Collective: Audio learning resource
This series of audio conversations provide insight into what a good conversation with a health or social care practitioner looks like from a lived experience perspective.
Co-production and strengths-based practice: Leaders’ Briefing
This briefing gives an overview of co-production from the basic theory to how it can work in organisations on all levels.
Autism inclusive practice: Frontline Briefing
This Frontline Briefing offers a way forward to support practice that is more inclusive of autistic people and their families.
Autism inclusive practice: Recorded Webinar
This recorded webinar supports practitioners to assess people with autism.
Lived experience in practice
Lived experience is becoming an increasingly popular term that more and more people across the social care sector are using. What does it mean in practice?Mental capacity, risk and human rights
Human rights are at the heart of adult social care practice and working with risk, particularly where there are questions of capacity, can be complex. Resources in this topic are designed to support organisations to take a human rights approach in complex areas of work and keep up-to-date with changes in the legislative context.

Working with people who self-neglect: Practice Tool
This resource aims to support adult social care practice with people who self-neglect where there are risks to health or wellbeing.
Promoting positive approaches to risk across organisations: Strategic Briefing
This Strategic Briefing supports senior leaders in adult social care to develop an organisational culture that promotes a positive approach to decisions
Embedding human rights assessment for care and support: Frontline Briefing
This resource focuses on the activity of assessing adults and carers who may have care or support needs. As with all adult social care activity, this is a human rights activity.
Preparing for the Liberty Protection Safeguards: Practice Guide
Liberty Protection Safeguards are replacing the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards in April 2022. This guide supports organisations prepare for the changes.
Working with people who self-neglect: Recorded Webinar
In this recorded webinar, hear research evidence, including the lived experience of people who self-neglect, and access additional new resources to support your work.
Human rights principles in practice: Recorded Webinar
Examine case law and practice examples to explore the complexities of decision-making where mental capacity, risk and human rights intersect.
The inherent jurisdiction of the High Court: Practice Guidance
This publication aims to support good quality decision-making in adult social care and safeguarding.Practice development
Social care practitioners work with a diverse range of people and roles. Practice development is a continual process that everyone working across adult social care is responsible for. It covers, the development of specific practice knowledge and skills, as well support for reflection on values and ethics.

Professional curiosity in safeguarding adults: Strategic Briefing
This Strategic Briefing draws from research and Safeguarding Adults Reviews to examine the nature of professional curiosity.
Developing effective Safeguarding Adult Review learning events: Practice Tool
This Practice Tool uses data collected from a Research in Practice survey sent out to Safeguarding Adults Boards and local authorities to explore and inform what makes an effective SAR learning event.
Organisational audit for evidence-informed practice: Practice Tool
Based on research and practice experience, this audit reflects four main factors that support organisations to embed evidence-informed practice.
Digital technology in adult social care: Recorded Webinar
Discuss the use of digital technology in adult social care, using the pandemic as a starting point for conversations regarding the opportunities, challenges and ethical dilemmas increased digitisation presents.
Forced labour and adult social care: Leaders' Briefing
This resource aims to support leaders and practitioners to consider new ways of conceptualising and addressing prevention, risk factors and responses of forced labour.
Exploring power and difference in adult social care: Recorded Webinar
Explore how power and difference can impact on relationships and interactions within adult social care.
Working with people who have experienced prison: Recorded Webinar
This recorded webinar explores how you can effectively work with people who are currently in prison, or who have been in prison.Strengths-based working
Strengths-based working focuses on people's strengths, including their knowledge, skills and capabilities. Understanding the evidence behind different approaches, reflecting on the values that sit behind them, and developing the skills for making it real in practice are important to embedding it within organisations.

Strengths-based practice: Brief Guide
This Brief Guide provides an accessible and clear overview for people who are accessing adult social care services about strengths-based working and what they can expect from it.
Strengths-based practice: Film
This film considers how practitioners can approach assessments, reviews and conversations in a strengths-based way.
Online coaching in adult social care: Recorded Webinar
This recorded webinar provides an introduction to the underpinning foundations of coaching around relationships and personal development, for use in a supervision context.
Making strengths-based working real – exploring relational strengths-based working in complexity: Workshop slides
Explore how strengths-based working can be used in practice scenarios that feel complex in nature.Additional resources
Across the year these individual and additionally commissioned resources supported priorities across the network.

Developing learning sessions & materials using Making Safeguarding Personal Tools and resources – Recorded Webinar
This recorded webinar gives suggestions and tips for developing learning resources from the Making Safeguarding Personal suite to support practice.
Introducing tools and resources to support Making Safeguarding Personal in Practice: Recorded Webinar
This recorded webinar gives an overview of resources to support Making Safeguarding Personal in practice.
Analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (April 2017 – March 2019) – Findings for sector-led improvement: Recorded Webinar
Analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (April 2017 – March 2019) – Findings for sector-led improvement: Recorded Webinar
Safeguarding Adult Review Analysis: Film
This film introduces the report of the first national analysis from Safeguarding Adults Reviews in England and shares some findings.Legal Literacy: Change Project
We were delighted to publish a new suite of online resources to support legal literacy across adult social care organisations. The Legal Literacy: Change Project highlights strategic initiatives and provides tools and activities to support this area of practice. The resources are the result of a two year project between Research in Practice, Professor Michael Preston-Shoot and Professor Suzy Braye with local authority partners. The resources were introduced in our recorded webinar.
Learning resources and events
As part of membership to Research in Practice, Partners have access to a range of learning opportunities and receive regular updates on the latest news and information, including case law, research evidence and policy. Our national programme of learning events, conferences and webinars support professional networking and development on pertinent social care topics, to meet individual and organisational needs.
This year, our Link Officers Annual Meeting (LOAM) was delivered virtually for the first time. We shared learning from the pandemic, detailed people’s recent experience of receiving virtual care and support, and drew out key themes and messages for the future. Our Partnership Conference shared knowledge and experiences of how the pandemic has impacted on mental health and emotional wellbeing, bringing together international, national and local perspectives on what it might mean for adult social care practice.
'Really liked having the pack sent out to me (at home). It helped me to feel connected. Really liked the break out rooms and the woman facilitating was really good and skilled at keeping us in check but also speaking! Well done and thanks, I thoroughly enjoyed the day. It was a space to reflect and think about mental health resilience and lived experiences. I feel re-focused and motivated.' – Partnership Conference participants.
Click and drag left and right to view our regular learning resources.

Podcasts
Providing flexible and accessible learning for anyone who has an interest in prevalent issues for the sector.
News & views
The latest news and information, communicated by a series of thought pieces written by and for professionals across the sector.
Case Law and Legal Summaries
Monthly updates on the latest case law, highlighting implications for social care practice.
Change Projects
Bringing groups of Research in Practice Partners together to explore pressing challenges and priorities.
Policy Updates
Covering the latest news, updates and policy information to ensure Partners are kept up-to-date with important developments, government reports and consultations.
Videos
Online learning sessions and videos that feature an expert speaker presenting evidence on a particular topic.
Research Summaries
Monthly summaries that explore pertinent social care issues and provide an in-depth digest of the latest research evidence.Click below to continue.

Children & families
We produce a range of learning resources and events to support people working with children, young people and families.View resources

Supporting the sector
We have worked collaboratively with individual organisations, as well as local and national partnerships.View resources