Our research

SPRU conducts research in a variety of applied health and social care areas employing a broad range of methods. We both generate research agendas and respond to calls generated by funders.

Our research projects are within SPRU's six research themes. 

Read about our research themes

Current research

Evaluating the Impacts of Implementing a Digital Care Management Software System in HomecareApril 2023 - December 2023

This research is evaluating the impacts of implementing a digital care management software system across a homecare provider organisation.

Psychoeducation programmes following an autism diagnosis: evaluating and informing the roll-out of a programme co-designed and co-delivered by autism professionals and autistic adultsFebruary 2023 - December 2023

This highly novel piece of work is tracking the regional roll-out of an autism psychoeducation programme co-designed and delivered by autistic adults (often referred to as peer mentors or experts by experience) and autism professionals. Key aims are to identify good practice around recruiting, training and supporting peer mentors, and how best to support effective co-design and co-delivery of autism psychoeducation programmes.

Understanding and using experiences of dementia to develop a Socialcaretalk section for public, policy, educators and service providersMay 2022 - February 2024

What matters most to people with dementia? The understanding and using experiences of dementia project will develop and produce a Socialcaretalk section for the public, policymakers, educators and service providers, that tells people's stories about what worked for them.

Developing a minimum dataset for homecare: The DACHA DOM studyMay 2022 - Sept 2023

This study is about helping to make sure that, in the future, we know and understand more about the population of people using homecare.

Developing a resource to support localities address user and family understanding of, and engagement with, reablement: a development and implementation study (The EAGER project)December 2021 - September 2023

This study will develop a resource/toolkit to support reablement services (in partnership with services along the referral pathway) who are seeking to improve engagement with reablement.

Development of a decision support tool for older people who pay for social care, and their familiesJune 2021 - May 2023

This project will create a ‘decision support tool’ to help older people make decisions about paying for social care.

Helping older people with mental health needs to engage with social care: Enhancing support worker skills through a prototype learning and development intervention (The HOPES 2 Study)1 March 2021 - 28 February 2022

This study will develop a learning package to enable specialist support workers to better engage older people with mental health needs in social care.

The Home Instead Research ProgrammeJanuary 2021 - December 2023

A three-year programme to stimulate new research and promote evidence-based practice in the field of home care.

Supporting the complete care of children and young people with life-threatening or life-shortening conditions, and their familiesAugust 2020 - September 2022

The aim of this study is to gather evidence the NHS and children's hospices can use to guide how they meet the pastoral, spiritual and religious needs of children and young people living with a life-threatening or life-shortening condition, and their families.

Reducing delayed transfers of care (DTOC) for older adults with frailty: a systems-thinking approach to health and social care processes August 2020 - January 2022

This study aims to explore the role of complex social care systems in delayed transfers of care.

The Health Care Experiences of Children and Young People with a Life-Threatening or Shortening Conditions, and their Parents.June 2020 to December 2024

This programme of work is developing robust ways to measure how children with a life-threatening or life-shortening condition and their parents experience hospital care.

The Curiosity PartnershipJune 2020 - May 2025

To develop and evaluate a regional capacity building network: facilitating greater understanding, use and production of research in adult social care.

Curious about CareJuly 2020 - January 2023

The project is developing a situational judgement test to assess the person-centredness of domiciliary care workers.

Exploring experiences of loneliness and improving social care supportApril 2020 - January 2023

This study is testing a service improvement approach from healthcare in which people using and providing a service co-design changes.

Supporting Adult Social Care Innovation (SASCI)September 2019 - September 2024

This study is building evidence to support the adult social care sector to start up, implement and spread innovation.

DETERMIND: Determinants of quality of life, care and costs, and consequences of inequalities in people with dementia and their family carersJanuary 2019 - December 2023

DETERMIND is designed to address critical, fundamental, and as yet unanswered questions about inequalities, outcomes and costs following diagnosis with dementia.

The role of different diets in children who are gastrostomy fed (the Your Tube study)October 2018 - March 2022

What are the risks, benefits and resource implications for using home-blended food for children with gastrostomy tubes compared to currently recommended formula feeds?