About The Social Care Elf

Which organisations are behind the Social Care Elf?

The Social Care Elf was originally jointly funded by Minervation Ltd, the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the LSE and the NIHR School for Social Care Research as part of the Social Care Evidence in Practice (SCEiP project). It is being relaunched in September 2023 by some of the DCC-i crew and colleagues, in partnership with these supporting organisations.

Supporting organisations include DCC Interactive Ltd (DCC-i), Making Research Count, the Social Services Research Group and the Social Care Institute for Excellence.

Who are in our core team?

  • Daisy Long, Chief Social Care Elf Blogger (DCC-i & National Centre for Cross Disciplinary Social Work, Bournemouth University)
  • Lizzie Furber, Elf Blogger and Editorial Team (DCC-i)
  • Chloe Whittall,  Elf Blogger and Editorial Team (DCC-i)
  • Gavin Rogers, Elf Blogger and Editorial Team (DCC-i)
  • André Tomlin, Project Manager, Minervation Ltd

Who writes for the Social Care Elf ?

  1. Daisy Long,  Educator, Ex-Social Worker. Strategic Development Consultant, DCC-i; Visiting Fellow, Bournemouth University.
  2. Gavin Rogers, Specialist Trainer, DCC-i
  3. Lizzie Furber, Specialist Associate, DCC-i.
  4. Chloe Whittall, Director & Independent Social Worker, DCC-i.
  5. Sarah Carr, Independent Consultant at Sarah Carr and Associates Ltd.

 

We also have an open invite for practitioners, academics, educators, policy makers, and people with lived experience of social care services to come and join us down in the woodlands helping to make research relevant to practice at this critical time.

 More details to follow…

Who has  previously written for the Social Care Elf?

  1. Douglas Badenoch, Director of Minervation Ltd, Chief Blogger The Lifestyle Elf  & The Diabetes Elf
  2. Gerry Bennison, User Researcher and Educator in Health and Social Care
  3. Sarah Carr, Independent Consultant at Sarah Carr and Associates Ltd
  4. Daisy Long,  Educator, Social Worker. Strategic Development Consultant, DCC-i; Visiting Fellow, Bournemouth University
  5. Anji Mehta, Project Manager, NIHR School for Social Care Research
  6. Katherine Bishop, Learning and Development Officer for Research in Practice and Research in Practice for Adults
  7. Susannah Bowyer, Research and Development Manager at Research in Practice
  8. Jeanne Carlin, Family Carer and Retired Social Worker
  9. Mike Clark, Research Programme Manager for the NIHR School for Social Care Research and Senior Research Fellow at the PSSRU, LSE
  10. Ian Cummins, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Salford
  11. Ermintrude, Social Worker in London
  12. Andrew Errington, Professional Head of Social Work in an NHS Trust.
  13. Jenny Fisher, Senior Lecturer, Research Institute for Health and Social Change, Manchester Metropolitan University
  14. Clarissa Giebel, Researcher and PhD student, PSSRU, University of Manchester
  15. Mark Harvey, Social Worker and area manager of a local authority Community Learning Disability and Autism Service
  16. Liz Hughes, Senior Lecturer, Mental Health Research Group, University of York
  17. Martin Knapp, Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the LSE
  18. Sarah Knowles, Research Fellow, NIHR School for Primary Care Research
  19. Mary Larkin, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the Open University
  20. Jane Greenstock, Research Analyst, Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), London
  21. Jill Manthorpe, Professor of Social Work at King’s College London and Director of the Social Care Workforce Research Unit
  22. Anji Mehta,
  23. Robin Miller, Senior Fellow and Director of Consultancy at HSMC, University of Birmingham
  24. Tanya Moore, Social Worker and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  25. Hannah Morgan, Lecturer in Disability Studies, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University and co-director of the Centre for Disability Research (CeDR)
  26. Jo Moriarty, Research Fellow, Social Care Workforce Research Unit at King’s College
  27. Nikki Newhouse, Researcher at Health Experiences Research Group, University of Oxford
  28. John Northfield, Chief Blogger, The Learning Disabilities Elf
  29. Lindsey Pike, Research and Development Officer, Research in Practice for Adults (RiPfA)
  30. Christopher Sampson, Health Economist at the University of Nottingham
  31. Lucy Simons, Research Fellow at NIHR MindTech Healthcare Technology Cooperative, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham
  32. Martin Stevens, Senior Research Fellow at the Social Care Workforce Research Unit
  33. Caroline Struthers, Training Coordinator for The Cochrane Collaboration
  34. André Tomlin, Managing Director of Minervation Ltd, Chief Blogger The Mental Elf
  35. Martin Webber, Reader in Social Work at the University of York, Director of the International Centre for Mental Health Social Research, Academic Lead for Making Research Count (York)

What sources do we search for evidence?

Journals

We currently search over 50 UK and international English language, peer reviewed journals that are of relevance to social work and social care:

  1. Affilia
  2. Ageing & Society
  3. BMC Psychiatry
  4. British Journal of Learning Disabilities
  5. British Journal of Psychiatry
  6. British Journal of Social Work
  7. British Journal of Visual Impairment
  8. Child & Family Social Work
  9. Child Abuse & Neglect
  10. Child and Adolescent Social Work
  11. Children & Society
  12. Community, Work and Family
  13. Critical and Radical Social Work
  14. Critical Social Policy
  15. Dementia
  16. Disability and Society
  17. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care
  18. European Journal of Social Work
  19. Evidence & Policy
  20. Families, Relationships and Societies
  21. Groupwork
  22. Health & Social Care in the Community
  23. International Journal of Integrated Care
  24. International Journal of Leadership in Public Services
  25. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion
  26. International Journal of Social Welfare
  27. International Social Work
  28. Journal of Adult Protection
  29. Journal of Evidence-based Social Work
  30. Journal of Family Social Work
  31. Journal of Gerontological Social
  32. Journal of Integrated Care
  33. Journal of Interpersonal Violence
  34. Journal of Mental Health
  35. Journal of Poverty and Social Justice
  36. Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning
  37. Journal of Social Policy
  38. Journal of Social Work
  39. Journal of Social Work Education
  40. Journal of Social Work in End of Life and Palliative Care
  41. Journal of Teaching in Social Work
  42. Mental Health and Social Inclusion
  43. Mental Health Review
  44. Nordic Social Work Research
  45. Policy & Politics
  46. Practice
  47. Public Money and Management
  48. Qualitative Social Work
  49. Sexual Abuse
  50. Social Care and Neurodisability
  51. Voluntary Sector Review

Websites and databases

We also search a number of online databases and social care research websites:

  1. Campbell Collaboration: www.campbellcollaboration.org/
  2. Cochrane Library: www.thecochranelibrary.com/
  3. Health and Social Care Information Centre: www.hscic.gov.uk/
  4. Health Services Management Centre: www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/social-policy/departments/health-services-management-centre/index.aspx
  5. Joseph Rowntree Foundation: www.jrf.org.uk/
  6. King’s Fund: www.kingsfund.org.uk/
  7. NatCen Social Research: www.natcen.ac.uk/
  8. National Institute for Clinical Excellence: www.nice.org.uk/
  9. NIHR School for Social Care Research: www.sscr.nihr.ac.uk/
  10. Personal Social Services Research Unit: www.pssru.ac.uk/
  11. PubMed www.pubmed.gov
  12. Race Equality Foundation: www.raceequalityfoundation.org.uk/
  13. Research in Practice for Adults: www.ripfa.org.uk/
  14. Research in Practice: www.rip.org.uk/
  15. Social Care Institute for Excellence: www.scie.org.uk
  16. Social Care Workforce Research Unit: www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/policy-institute/scwru/index.aspx
  17. Social Policy Research Unit: www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/
  18. Social Services Research Group: www.ssrg.org.uk/

Suggest a new source or a specific piece of evidence for inclusion

We are always on the look out for new journals, websites or databases to scan for high quality research, policy and guidance relevant to UK social care. We are also keen to hear about specific articles and publications that you think we should be blogging about.

Please email us at feedback@thesocialcareelf.net if you have any suggestions for sources or papers we should be including.