Social care and implementation researchers at King's Improvement Science and ARC South London have produced a new guide to designing and conducting implementation research within social care.
The SC-ImpRes (Social Care Implementation Research) guide provides step-by-step guidance on designing and conducting implementation research across social care settings, for example, research relating to a new programme, innovation or a new way of working.
Dr Antonina Semkina, research associate, King’s College London, who is based in the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce and ARC South London, co-led the development of the guide.
"People in social care are always looking for ways to improve services and care. Implementation research can help because it facilitates the adoption of effective practises. The guide aims to improve quality and efficiency of services and care," she said.
The guide was developed with input from a group of 13 specialists in social care and implementation science. The guide draws on the original Implementation Science Research development (ImpRes) tool and guide (Hull et al., 2019).
"The guide includes questions and statements designed to support those designing implementation research within social care think critically when developing and conducting their own implementation research," said Dr Louise Hull, King's Improvement Science researchers and ARC South London Implementation Research theme lead, SC-ImpRes co-lead.
Structured across eight sections, the guide introduces key terms and concepts relevant to implementation research in social care, including the importance of engaging stakeholders, different implementation theories, frameworks and strategies, and implementation outcomes.
The SC-ImpRes guide aims to:
- Support social care researchers and practitioners in designing and conducting implementation research, rather than doing implementation itself
- Define commonly used implementation science terms
- Provide an overview of implementation science practices and concepts
- Direct research teams to relevant literature and resources
The guide is for social care researchers and practitioners with varying levels of expertise in implementation science working on implementation research projects. Watch a short video introducing the SC-ImpRes guide.
View the SC-ImpRes guide
Find out more about the ImpRes resources:
- Implementation Science Research development (ImpRes) tool and guide (Hull et al., 2019)
- Implementation Research Proposal Assessment Criteria (ImpResPAC) tool (Sweetnam et al., 2022)
- Implementation Science Research Glossary
