Gray Karen, Dibsdall Lisa, Sumpter Linda, Cameron Ailsa, Willis Paul, Symonds Jon, Jones Matthew, McLeod Hugh, Macdonald Geraldine, Cabral Christie
University of Bristol, UK.
Cardiff University, UK.
Evid Policy. 2024 Mar 25;20(4):440-459. doi: 10.1332/17442648Y2024D000000024.
Despite calls for greater use of research and an appetite to do so within adult social care, a gap persists between research and practice.
To explore views of adult social care staff about research and its application to everyday practice. To understand how these might impact upon research use capacity-building initiatives within adult social care organisations.
Thematic analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews with 25 staff members working within the adult social care departments of three English local authorities.
Participants characterised research as feeling separate from practice. They reflected on their use of it in relation to pressures affecting adult social care and identified a lack of relevant research. Research benefiting service users, supporting individual practice or informing organisational decision-making was considered useful. However, research could also be viewed as a luxury where its findings were felt to represent an 'ideal' rather than real world of practice or did not accord with practice knowledge or local experience.
While participants feel positively towards research, there remains a gap between these perceptions and its use in practice. There remains a need to improve research relevance and accessibility and to clarify its role in decision-making in social care, including where there is no evidence, where evidence challenges existing practice, or where the evidence base is growing. Collaborative partnerships between adult social care organisations, researchers and service users could help to narrow the research-practice gap and support the routine translation of research to practice.
尽管有人呼吁在成人社会护理中更多地运用研究，且人们也有这样做的意愿，但研究与实践之间仍存在差距。
探讨成人社会护理工作人员对研究及其在日常实践中的应用的看法。了解这些看法如何影响成人社会护理组织内的研究应用能力建设举措。
对来自英国三个地方当局成人社会护理部门的25名工作人员进行半结构化定性访谈，并进行主题分析。
参与者认为研究与实践脱节。他们反思了在应对影响成人社会护理的压力时对研究的运用情况，并指出缺乏相关研究。对服务使用者有益、支持个人实践或为组织决策提供信息的研究被认为是有用的。然而，研究也可能被视为一种奢侈品，因为其研究结果被认为代表的是“理想”而非现实的实践世界，或者与实践知识或当地经验不符。
虽然参与者对研究持积极态度，但这些看法与研究在实践中的应用之间仍存在差距。仍有必要提高研究的相关性和可及性，并明确其在社会护理决策中的作用，包括在没有证据、证据挑战现有实践或证据基础不断扩大的情况下。成人社会护理组织、研究人员和服务使用者之间的合作伙伴关系有助于缩小研究与实践之间的差距，并支持研究向实践的常规转化。
