Southampton researchers awarded £380k for social care study
Southampton researchers will gain new insight into emerging social care initiatives that are responding to the closure of day centres, thanks to a new grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.
The cross-faculty team from the University of Southampton includes Associate Professor Andrew Power from Geography and Environment, and Professor Melanie Nind from Education. Working with colleagues from the University of Dundee, they have been awarded nearly £380k to explore how a range of social care initiatives have been operating in four regions across the UK.
Anecdotal evidence has suggested that the initiatives, typically led by community groups, are important for adults with learning disabilities in particular. They have helped offer spaces to meet friends and socialise, and to learn about ways to live independently.
Using an ethnographic approach, the research team will identify what kinds of initiatives are emerging in local areas, and explore how the emerging networks can be effectively supported to innovate and evolve.
Caroline Speirs, Head of ‘Think Local, Act Personal’, a UK social care national partnership, has said:
“Given we are committed to co-production, we were heartened to see that the project has emerged through close consultation with people with learning disabilities. We believe the project has the potential to create a positive impact for people with learning disabilities and we would be keen to link this closely with our partners.”
SPIRIT website (Southampton Platform for Inclusive Research and Ideas Together).
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Dr Andrew Power BA Geography & Anthropology; MA Geography; PhD Geography
Dr Andrew Power is Associate Professor of Human Geography at Southampton. He joined the School of Geography and Environmental Science at Southampton in April 2011. He studied for his PhD at the Department of Geography at Maynooth University, Ireland. Prior to coming to Southampton, he was a Research Associate at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy (Faculty of Law) at the National University of Ireland Galway, and an ESRC Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Lancaster.
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Professor Melanie Nind BEd, PhD
Melanie Nind, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, is Professor of Education at the University of Southampton. She is also Director of the Centre for Research in Inclusion in the Southampton Education School. Melanie is Deputy Director of the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership and one of the co-directors of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods where she leads research on the pedagogy of research methods learning. She has been conferred with gold membership of the Asian Qualitative Research Association, for support of qualitative research development, and with an honorary doctorate from VID, Norway, for her contribution to science. She editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Learning Disabilities , past editor of International Journal of Research & Method in Education and on the editorial boards of European Journal of Special Needs Education and Disability and Society . Her recent research projects have focused on pedagogy and innovation in research methods and on quality in inclusive research. Melanie edits the Bloomsbury Research Methods for Education book series.
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