The internship awards are made by the National Institute for Health & Care Research (NIHR) School for Social Care Research (SSCR), which is a body that brings together leading academic centres in England who are demonstrating excellence in adult social care research.
The awards support Masters students based within a university which is a core member of NIHR SSCR to work on their dissertations. Each recipient receives a £5,000 research stipend and has the opportunity to take part in SSCR events, webinars, and the annual conference, and to be mentored and supervised by leading adult social care researchers in SPS.
The SPS award holders are:
Margarita Kanta who will carry out a thematic analysis of Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) focusing on social and individual factors that may contribute to self-neglecting behaviours in order adults in South West England. Margarita said: ''I'm delighted that my research project was chosen for the NIHR SSCR internship award as self-neglect in order adults is a real challenge for social workers and I feel that there needs to be more research around the topic, to enable us to work more effectively with individuals with such behaviours. Additionally, this internship award gives me the opportunity to develop my research skills.''
Adeola James-Lawal will be exploring Good Social Work Practice with older people who have experienced abuse in institutional settings. “I am pleased to win the internship because it has given me the opportunity to develop my research skills and contribute to Adult social care, which I am passionate about. Moreover, I hope that the recognition of this award will help contribute to the awareness of older people's abuse in institutions which is under-researched and encourage further research in this area.”
Sophie Rowlands intends to explore the role of excessive shame in undermining wellbeing in adults and the implications for practising under the Care Act (2014). “I am so pleased to be chosen for the NIHR SSCR internship because the impact of shame in social work is under-researched. Having the support of SSCR will allow me to deepen my own knowledge, hopefully promoting insight and further exploration into this topic, as well as wider consideration of the implications for practice. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to develop my skills whilst pursuing my research interest.”
Prof David Abbott, who leads on SSCR at the University of Bristol, said:
“These awards signal NIHR SSCR’s increased commitment to social care research and developing research capacity. I am delighted our students have taken up this opportunity in open competition and been so successful. I look forward to hearing about their research as it develops.”