Abstract:
There is a growing agenda internationally for a closer relationship of social services and research, including evaluation of interventions, evidence-based practice and the demonstration of effectiveness. There is also increasing emphasis on partnership and collaboration in the planning and conduct of research. There are however numerous barriers that continue to exist around research conduct and use in practice. An innovative model of academic-practitioner partnership was implemented by a group of researchers in partnership with groups of social service practitioners. This demonstration focuses on a discussion of the project - 'Growing research in practice'. Learning from this project in terms of benefits to practitioners, researchers and agencies, challenges of such partnerships and potential opportunities and pitfalls to grow research in practice, will be shared. Strategies to grow research capability and activity through academic practice partnerships will be explored.