Latest news:

New training resource!
The Evidence Guide: Using Research and Evaluation in Social Care and Allied Professions

This new training resource, published by Barnardo's, is designed to help social care staff to locate, assess and apply research evidence in practice. The Evidence Guide was developed as part of the WWfC project in collaboration with CEBSS (The Centre for Evidence Based Social Services www.ripfa.org.uk/aboutus/archive/) and Barnardo's R&D team.

The pack is divided into 5 modules each aimed at a particular aspect of developing the effective use of research and evaluation:

MODULE 1: Using Research Evidence in Practice: An Introduction
MODULE 2: Locating Research Evidence in Five Steps
MODULE 3: Appraising and Reviewing Research Evidence
MODULE 4: Adapting and Applying Evidence: issues for individual practitioners and organisations
MODULE 5: Outcome-focused Evaluation

The pack has been piloted and reviewed with both external agencies and practitioners in Barnardo's. The pack, published in June 2006, is available from Barnardo's. An order form can be printed from our site.

Results of study looking at the fit between what practitioners want from research and what research gets funded
This review gathered findings from various studies which had asked practitioners what research would help them in their practice with children in health and social care. Over 1000 research questions were collected. Have a look at the favourite questions asked.

We also collected information on studies funded by five major UK funders in social care. We compared the questions asked by practitioners with the research questions of studies which actually received funding. A summary of the results can be viewed in this presentation.