Social Care Research Wales – Family Support Services Steering Group terms of reference

  • Published: 20 December 2023
  • Version: V1
  • 3 min read

Membership

Lisa Trigg - Project Lead, Social Care Wales (SCW)
Karen Benjamin - 4Cs
Michael Bowdery - Health and Care Research Wales
Kathryne Breen - Parent Advisor
Leanne Cook - Parent Advisor
Ceri Evans - Barnados
Janine Hale - Knowledge and Analytical Services Welsh Government
Annabel Lloyd - Head of Children’s Services Rhondda Cynon Taff, Chair of All Wales Head of Children's Services (AWHOCS)
Layla Rodd - Parent Advisor
Cathryn Thomas - SCW (Subject matter expert)
David Wilkins - CASCADE
Katherine Cowan - James Lind Alliance Senior Advisor
Hannah Spring - Information Specialist
Emma Small (Secretariat) - Project Manager (R&D Division, Population Health, Welsh Government)
Sarah Atkinson (Secretariat) - Project Coordinator (SCW)
Sara Evans (Secretariat) - Project Support (SCW)
Rosie Scotcher - Observer – work experience

The meetings will usually be chaired by Lisa Trigg or Emma Small and some agenda items will be facilitated by our James Lind Alliance Senior Advisor, Katherine Cowan. The project is being carried out in association with the James Lind Alliance.

Purpose

  1. To have oversight of, and take key decisions on, the Social Care Research Prioritisation Pilot Project
  2. To ensure that the project is mindful of the James Lind Alliance principles of
    • Inclusivity: working with others respectfully and constructively and ensuring the full range of service users, carers and social care practitioners are involved in the priority setting process
    • Equality: service users, carers and social care practitioners, and the knowledge and experience they bring, are of equal value to the process
    • Fairness and transparency: declaring any personals interests, and ensuring decisions and activities are documented openly
    • Evidence based: ensuring the work of the project recognises the existing knowledge base and contributes to this through the project’s evidence checking and open publication of information from the project.
  3. Decisions that will be taken by the Working Group include
    • Topic selection – defining the scope of the project
    • Target audience – who does the project need to reach out to, and how can we hear from seldom-heard groups?
    • Language and tone of all external project materials – how to phrase and set things out so that we engage with our target audience
    • Approval of project plan, and amendments to it during the life of the project
    • Approval of survey design and sampling frame
    • Oversight of stakeholder engagement and planning for the workshops
    • Oversight of the work of the Information Specialist (using information from the first survey to develop indicative questions, using information from the surveys and workshop to develop “narratives” for the Top 10)
    • Oversight of the collection and analysis of the evidence uncertainties so that full transparency is maintained, and the pathway between survey submissions to research questions can be traced.
    • Agree the indicative questions and research priorities that go forward to the workshop
    • Approval of methodology, and oversight of, informal evaluation
  4. The Working Group may vote on some decisions. The Project Manager, Secretariat and guests do not vote.

  5. Decisions on the following areas will remain with the Social Care Wales:
    • Resource allocation and procurement
    • Other follow-up work by Social Care Wales that takes place after the close of the project.

Decisions on the following areas will remain with Health Care Research Wales: research funding

    • Health and Care Research Wales research funding
    • Engagement with other funders with a view to contributing research questions to commissioned calls
    • Other follow-up work by Health and Care Research Wales that takes place after the close of the project.

Declaring interests

Working Group members are asked to declare any interests relevant to the project. A form will be provided.

Meetings and work required

      • Attendance at approximately 9 virtual meetings during the life of the project (via Teams or Zoom)
      • Review of papers in advance of meetings, responding promptly when comments or other work is required
      • If you cannot attend a meeting, please submit comments on papers in advance of the meeting
      • Some additional work may be required between meetings
      • The Working Group will have a final wrap-up meeting after the Workshop to review the outcomes of the project to date and lessons learned.

The plan for the meetings (may be subject to change) is as follows:

Meeting 1 (1 ½ hours) 11 January 2022 - Decide topic and scope of project
Meeting 2 (1 ½ hours) 1 February 2022 - Agree questionnaires ready for piloting, discuss the promotion guide and engagement plan
Meeting 3 (1 ½ hours) 1 March 2022 - Agree final versions of questionnaires, promotion guide and engagement plan ready for launch of survey and promotion activity
Meeting 4 (2 hours) 12 April 2022 - Analyse responses into in-scope and out-of-scope, group them and develop a long-list of indicative questions - longer-length meeting
Meeting 5 (2 hours) 21 April 2022 - Continue to analyse responses
Meeting 6 (1 ½ hours) 28 April 2022 - Continue to analyse responses, finalise Interim Prioritisation Survey
Meeting 7 (2 hours) 24 May 2022 - Using findings from the Interim prioritisation survey to shortlist indicative questions, and finalise preparations for the workshop
Meeting 8 (1 ½ hours) 5 July 2022 - Consider results and feedback from the workshop and decide a list of researchers and other participants to engage with during follow up work
Meeting 9 (1 ½ hours) 6 September 2022 - Consider the results of the project to date, feedback from participants and lessons learned.