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  1. About Us
    1. About Us
    2. The Team
    3. Member Organisations
    4. Governance
  2. Research, Implementation and Impact
    1. Research, Implementation and Impact
    2. Impact
    3. Social Care and Social Work
      1. Social Care and Social Work
      2. Social Care - Kent, Surrey & Sussex Region
        1. Social Care - Kent, Surrey & Sussex Region
        2. Meet the team
    4. Starting Well: Children's Mental Health
      1. Starting Well: Children's Mental Health
      2. Meet the team
    5. Primary and Community Health Services
      1. Primary and Community Health Services
      2. Meet the team
    6. Living Well with Dementia
      1. Living Well with Dementia
      2. Meet the team
    7. Co-production
      1. Co-production
      2. Meet the team
    8. Public Health
      1. Public Health
      2. Meet the team
    9. Digital Innovation
      1. Digital Innovation
      2. Meet the team
    10. Economics of Health and Social Care
      1. Economics of Health and Social Care
      2. Meet the team
    11. Covid-19
    12. Implementation
      1. Implementation
      2. Meet the team
    13. Rapid Evidence Synthesis
      1. Rapid Evidence Synthesis
      2. Meet the team
  3. Public and Community Involvement
    1. Public and Community Involvement
    2. What is PCIE?
    3. Getting Involved
    4. Support for researchers
    5. Resources
    6. PCIE Guide
      1. PCIE Guide
      2. Contents
      3. Introduction
        1. Introduction
        2. An overview of ARC KSS
        3. Who can help you with PCIE?
        4. Terminology and PCIE
      4. Why and When to do PCIE
        1. Why and When to do PCIE
        2. Why involve members of the public in research?
        3. Why do members of the public want to get involved in research?
        4. When to get members of the public involved?
      5. How to do PCIE
        1. How to do PCIE
        2. Communication and Accessibility
        3. Budgeting
        4. Planning for involvement and engagement
        5. How to recruit members of the public
        6. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
        7. Approaches – different options for undertaking PCIE
        8. Facilitating meetings and Group dynamics
        9. Ethics
        10. Feedback
        11. Impact and Evaluation
      6. Examples/Case Studies
      7. Appendix/Useful tools
  4. Learning and Development
    1. Learning and Development
    2. ARC KSS AcademyARC KSS Academy
    3. Learning and DevelopmentLearning and Development
      1. Learning and Development
      2. Learning and Development Finder
      3. Researchers Journeys
    4. MentorshipMentorship
    5. Research communities of practiceResearch communities of practice
    6. Research Week Research Week
      1. Research Week
      2. Poster Competition 2024
      3. Previous Research Weeks
    7. Your Health and Social Care Research Quick GuideYour Health and Social Care Research Quick Guide
  5. Resource Library
  6. Events
  7. News
  8. Contact Us

NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) aims to carry out research projects which are informed by the needs of our local population and those providing and commissioning services, to make sure that the research questions are based on local challenges and that findings are relevant and useful for local care systems across Kent, Surrey and Sussex. 

To kick-start the process, a focus group study and online survey were undertaken to identify priorities in Adult Social Care research across the region. The research team engaged with local stakeholders and members of the public through a series of online focus groups, asking them about their priorities for adult social care research and find out about innovative practice already underway, as well as the challenges experienced by those receiving and those involved in the provision of care.

The details of the ARC KSS study have now been published in a report, Identifying Priorities for Adult Social Care Research: A focus group study in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, that summarises the findings, together with a visual representation of the topics discussed at the symposium event held in December, where the findings of the study were presented.

The research areas and projects following from the focus group study include:

  1. Inclusive practice: to explore ways to make residential care settings more inclusive for older people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community.
  2. Home Care: to look at existing evidence around workforce sustainability and the support of new project development, including a focus on prevention and safety, in collaboration with the Public Health theme of ARC KSS.
  3. Carers: to explore (self) identification of carers (recognising someone is a carer) and the impact of strength-based approached to needs assessments and care.
  4. Digital Social Care: to explore projects around telehealth in social care commissioning, in collaboration with industry partners.
  5. Outcomes measures VCSE: to support a project developed by the University of Kent looking a co-producing a framework and toolkit to support Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VSCE) organisations.
  6. Front Door to Adult Social Care: to develop a project that examines variations in front door services across the region, together with local authority partners.
  7. D2A Model: to support a project with the wider ARC and Academic Health Science Network to evaluate the Discharge to Assess (D2A) pathway, with a focus on community settings. 

Dr Jolie Keemink, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at ARC KSS, said:

"We'd like to thank all of those who participated in our focus groups and joined our event in December to share their experience with us. This report outlines the outcomes of these discussions and sets out the foundation for the research projects that we are looking to set up within the social care theme and the wider ARC KSS.

We are in the process of developing a number of different Communities of Experience groups, specifically designed to bring together people with share interests and individual experiences to hear and learn from each other, to share knowledge and good practice and to address any challenges.

We would welcome and encourage anyone involved in the delivery and provision of these services, those supported by these services, as well as members of the public and academia to join these groups." 

Forthcoming Communities of Experience (CoE) and other events:

  • VSCE sector CoE- Thursday 31 March 1-2.30pm. Sign up here.
  • Home Care CoE– Wednesday 27 April, 2 – 3:30pm.  Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information. 
  • Carers CoE - Friday 6 May 1-3pm. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.
  • Building Research Capacity in Social Care Symposium (support for early-career researchers and practitioners developing research projects in social care) - Thursday 26 May, 1-3pm. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information. 

For further information about the study or any of the projects, contact the ARC KSS Social Care theme:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., ARC KSS Implementation Manager or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., ARC KSS Post-Doctoral Research Associate.

Image created by Carrie Lewis, New Possibilities

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