Community of Practice for Commissioners & Researchers event
By Kathryn Hudson PhD WM ADASS Research Programme Lead, 17 March 2026
The March 12 event, held at the University of Birmingham, was the second meeting of the Community of Practice for Commissioners and Researchers
The well-attended meeting was chaired by Graham Betts CBE and Patrick Hall, who reiterated the CoP’s purpose: strengthening the relationship between commissioning and research to improve evidence, practice, and outcomes across adult social care.
The event brought together commissioners, researchers and partners from across the West Midlands and national universities looking to strengthen evidence‑informed commissioning and support the development of a research‑active social care system.
The first presentation was from Professor Matt Bennett, University of Birmingham who outlined work commissioned by DHSC to design and pilot a national, representative survey of unpaid carers, covering diverse experiences, needs and outcomes. The project includes co‑design panels, piloting sampling models, and future‑proofing through administrative data linkage and longitudinal design. West Midlands is a key pilot area.
There are opportunities for commissioners to get involved by joining co‑design panels (five 2‑hour sessions); participating in a local authority panel for colleagues working on carer wellbeing, strategy and delivery; and by helping shape the question set, particularly for carers supporting people with dementia or learning disabilities.
Next up, Keshena Bowie described Birmingham Voluntary Service Council’s programme that is training community researchers from diverse backgrounds in research methods, ethics, interviews, and thematic analysis. Community researchers are paid in accordance with NIHR guidance and projects typically run 16–18 weeks. The model is used across public health and NHS‑funded work.
Opportunities to get involved include commissioning community‑based qualitative research, and using community researchers to access communities and capture lived experience insights.
Patrick Hall then shared findings on the identity and culture of commissioning, highlighting discomfort among some practitioners with the “commissioner” label and the need for clearer professional identity, career pathways and competencies. He provided historical context from post‑war social care to modern commissioning practice.
There are opportunities for people to get engaged in ongoing work exploring commissioning identity, skills and development pathways.
In the final presentation Dr Steve Williams of University of Birmingham described an NIHR‑funded project exploring hidden costs of hospital discharge for older adults, families, NHS and social care. The study includes literature review, 15 stakeholder interviews, and follow‑up of 40 adults discharged from Birmingham and Coventry & Warwickshire hospitals, with costed discharge pathways to be developed.
Again, there are opportunities for commissioners to get involved by sharing local strategic/operational documents, contributing commissioning insight and participating in interviews.
Following the presentations there was a discussion around priority areas for future sessions of the Community of Practice, which identifed:
- Neighbourhood health planning and implications for social care.
- Quantifying the benefits of prevention.
- Comparing costs and outcomes of in‑house vs externally commissioned provision.
- Implications of the Procurement Act 2023.
- CQC themes, benchmarking, and carers’ assessments.
- Accessing NIHR and other research funding for local authority‑led research.
Colleagues expressed warm thanks to Patrick Hall as he moves into his new commissioner role in Walsall, recognising his major contribution to building and sustaining the Community of Practice and his intention to remain connected.
If you would like to get involved in the Community of Practice please contact Kathryn.Hudson@wm-adass.org.uk.
Reflections from Oslo, Norway and Black History Month
By Sandra Simpson, Research Engagement Lead, 13 February 2026
I've had this blog in my drafts since October 2025, unsure of how to conclude it.
However, life has found a natural and positive ending. Let's start from the beginning...
Thanks to the British Association of Social Work, I was successful in gaining funding to attend the International Federation of Social Work European conference in Oslo, Norway. It was a phenomenal and joyful experience.
It was fitting that I had such an experience during Black History Month, a reminder of the importance of Black joy and rest. For once, my sole mission was to learn, develop and connect.
The reception and welcome on the first day were exceptional. The conference commenced on a high note, setting a positive tone for the entire event. A golden thread of sustainability ran throughout, even extending to the musician, who used sustainable instruments, including a goat horn. The culture of singing and dancing was delightful.
A particularly memorable quote from the session was, 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children'.
This served as a stark reminder of our accountability as adults and the need to make changes for now and future generations.
The evening reception was amazing. The significance of holding the event in the city hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, added to the sense of honour.
Throughout the conference, I felt appreciated not only because of the selection of fantastic speakers but also because of the food provision. I definitely put on a few pounds as I can’t say no to cake!
At the opening address of the conference, time was dedicated to remembering Tamima Nibras Juhar, a 34-year-old social worker, who was murdered by an 18- year-old she was supporting. The murder was racially motivated. I found the news shocking and saddening. All delegates went silent at the unexpected nature of the announcement.
Alongside learning about the passing of Tamima, the speaker made reference to racism within the UK, underscoring the prevalence of the issue back home. Though hearing the news of Tamima was awful, I was proud to be part of the collective acknowledging the significance of her life.
“Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world” (bell hooks 1995).
Before the conference, I had been reflecting on my own safety as a Black woman in a front-facing role. While I’ve not heard of incidences of racially motivated murder within the context of social care, increasingly, I am hearing experiences of Black social workers and paid carers being racially abused and being made to feel unwelcome.
As we continue to see a rise in the far-right and anti-immigration rhetoric, consideration for the safety of targeted groups needs to be at the forefront of our minds. Empathy and incident report form filling are not enough. Anything less than proactive steps, well, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said it best…"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”
The conference effectively highlighted the interconnectedness of all forms of oppression and the need for green social work. If you left the conference not seeing that connection and the impact of colonisation, you were disconnected.
Hurricane Melissa, alongside many natural disasters, is a case in point. Hearing the heartbreak in my mother’s voice about her country was sobering. Thankfully, my family were “ok”, but that was not the case for many. To paraphrase the keynote speaker at the conference, Dag Olav Hessen, writer and biologist: ‘those least contributing towards climate change are most impacted.’ We all need to wake
up.
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963.
During the conference, I spoke with social workers who attended for the first time. It struck me that they did not feel entitled to occupy the conference space. This was an acute reminder of the disconnect between academia, research and practice.
I hope that, after attending the conference, they feel a sense of ownership over this space and that they recognise our right to access new knowledge, to contribute to it, and to challenge it. Research is a fundamental element of social work practice. With that said, after the conference, I put forward my own abstract to the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development in Kenya, and it was accepted.
It will be my first international conference as a speaker, and hopefully not the last. I am sure plenty of lessons will be learned and shared in future blogs.
I look forward to occupying MY space at the conference and sharing my contributions with attendees.
Upcoming events:
24/02/26 10:30- 14:00 West Midlands ADASS Research Led Communities of Practice. The theme of this event is AI in adult social care. Click on this link to get further information and register.
Reflections from September: A New Beginning
By Sandra Simpson, Research Engagement Lead, 20 October 2025
September was a month full of new beginnings. I had the privilege of attending my first Communities of Practice (CoP) for adult social care commissioners in the West Midlands, hosted by my colleague, Patrick Hall, our embedded research fellow with West Midlands ADASS from the University of Birmingham. This experience provided me with valuable insight into the work of commissioners and how they plan to incorporate research evidence into their roles. Although I was supposed to be there to support with facilitation, I found myself so engrossed in the conversations that I ended up joining in. Sorry Patrick!
The following week, it was my turn to facilitate a CoP for adult social care workers, ‘Connecting with Research: Establishing a Community of Practice for Adult Social Care Workers in the West Midlands’. Unlike the previous week, I was not feeling as relaxed and chatty as I was in my assigned "facilitator role." They say a watched phone never rings, but in my case, a watched door never opens. I have never focused on a door so much. I was apprehensive about the turnout; however, 14 attended. While this may not sound like a lot for a regional event, the reality is that it is really challenging to get practitioners away from work due to workload and workforce challenges. I could not have wished for a better turnout. There was so much passion in the room for research and pushing forward. A lot of brain power was involved. Luckily, a nice lunch followed to take the edge off. It was a lesson for me to be mindful of the cognitive load work like this involves. Thinking is tiring!
From my own perspective, it was the first time I organised a Community of Practice (CoP), and doing something new can always be a bit daunting. However, what is essential is to remember the ‘why’. The ‘why’ is that there is a deep need to embed a research culture within adult social care across the West Midlands and nationally. Underpinning the ‘why’ is the drive to improve the lives of people who access adult social care. The hope is that the CoP will contribute towards that cultural change. Like all big cultural changes, the important thing is to start and just keep going, growing and learning.
Reflecting on the first CoP session, there are definitely a few things I would do differently, and I can perhaps start implementing them in the future. Firstly, I would send out the slides and discussion points beforehand to give people an opportunity to think and write notes. Although there was a diverse range of members working in different roles, I would like to put more effort into including support workers and carers working in adult social care.
I also regret not inviting a guest speaker to provide a different perspective and inspiration. It would have given members a break from my voice. Additionally, making use of technology to break up the experience to make it more engaging would have been beneficial. More importantly, though, I should have brought more sweets! Every day is a school day.
Another first for me was being invited as a guest speaker to the West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership visioning event. I felt so welcomed by all the attendees. I presented my CAPE model, a potential framework for building a research culture. CAPE is an acronym for the following domains: Consume, Apply, Participate, and Encourage. I hope that by implementing these habits in everyday practice, we will develop a research culture. The model speaks to a wide range of practitioners; it may include a practitioner who just wants to read research (Consume) or a practitioner who would like to undertake research. The model has something to offer everyone; it is not about making every social care practitioner an academic. It is about meeting people where they are on their research journey and supporting. The level of engagement and feedback from the model blew me away. The Q&A session was dynamic, and I gained tremendous insight into the dedication and work involved in the West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership. One of my biggest takeaways was how much partners care about the future of the profession and beyond.
Additionally, I received positive feedback regarding my public speaking abilities from several partners. Obviously, I am now going to put myself forward for a TEDx talk! On a serious note, if you are interested in embedding a research culture and you want to learn from my triumphs and failures, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
September was full of transformative experiences. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be a part of embedding a research culture in adult social care across the West Midlands.
Our second Community of Practice will be held online in November 2025. The date and time are to be confirmed, but if you are interested, please do contact me via email at sandra.simpson@wm-adass.org.uk