What is Values-based recruitment in Adult Social Care? Why is it important? Could it help to reduce the number of vacancies in the sector?

In part one of this episode Dr Kate Hamblin speaks with care sector employers about how they recruit, focussing on how values-based recruitment can lead to better retention and positive, person-centred care.

We are pleased to welcome special guests Anne Pridmore (CEO, Being the Boss), Dave Beesley (Talent Director, Cohesion Recruitment) and Jo Parsons (Co-production Manager, Drive) to discuss their experiences of recruiting employees in social care settings.

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Learn more about our research on the Centre for Care website here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

---Intro/outro music: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Centre for Care Researcher, Duncan Fisher, hosts Suliyat O'Balogun in this episode, which looks at established perceptions of home care provision, and how these perceptions inspired Suliyat to start her own home care business with a different model, with focus on sustainability, recruitment and retention, values and work place culture. They also discuss migration and individual care biographies, looking at Suliyat's journey into social work.

Suliyat O'Balogun qualified as a Social Worker in 2014. Between then and 2019, she worked in a Hospital Discharge Team based at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital. 

In 2019, Suliyat moved to a Local Authority based in the South East of England, where she worked with adults over 18 years old, with physical, learning disabilities/difficulties and mental health issues. During this period, she managed a social work team, where she was responsible for overseeing the team’s operational needs, practice quality, KPIs and managing financial budgets. Suliyat was also involved in the recruitment process, including interviewing possible candidates, organising induction plans and subsequently, reviewing performance of team members regularly. 

In 2023, Suliyat opened up a domiciliary care agency called This is Homecare.

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Learn more about our research on the Centre for Care website here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

---Intro/outro music: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Dr Duncan Fisher hosts Richard Humphries in another edition of our CARE MATTERS mini-series, ‘Authors of Care’. Duncan asks Richard about his recent publication, ‘Ending the Social Care Crisis: A New Road to Reform’, exploring the themes of the book, the background and personal challenges which helped shape it, Richard’s recommendations for reform and much more.

Richard's book, ‘Ending the Social Care Crisis: A New Road to Reform’, was published in Autumn 2022 and can be purchased on Amazon and from Bristol University Policy Press. In the book, Richard considers the route to meaningful and enduring positive change for adult social care in England and what we can learn from history and other contexts in this regard.

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Learn more about our research on the Centre for Care website here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

---Intro/outro music: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

We are delighted to welcome three esteemed guests to Care Matters; Professor Nancy Folbre, Dr Naomi Lightman and Professor Shereen Hussein. In this episode, hosted by Dr Duncan Fisher, our guests discuss the devaluation and underpayment of care work.

Drawing on experiences from the USA, Canada and the UK, they consider the challenges of assigning value to care, emphasising social, cultural and intergenerational dimensions.

Nancy Folbre's 'Care Talk' blog on the Revaluing Care website: https://www.revaluingcare.org/category/care-talk/

“Working More and Making Less: Post-Retirement Aged Immigrant Women Care Workers in Canada” Journal of Aging and Social Policy. Naomi Lightman and Hamid Akbary.

Lightman, Naomi., Evehe B., M. and Baay, C. “More than ‘Just a Health-Care Aide’: Immigrant Women Speak About the COVID-19 Crisis in Long-Term Care.” Edmonton: Parkland Institute.

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Learn more about our research on the Centre for Care website here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

---Intro/outro music: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

This episode looks into Catherine’s and Patrick’s recent book entitled "Social Care in the UK's Four Nations: Between Two Paradigms". Focusing on England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the book examines the differences in care systems.

Catherine and Patrick identify five care crises, including demographic changes, family roles, state involvement, market challenges, and community support. We discuss how policymakers in the four nations employ various mechanisms aim to achieve common goals in an effort to solve these current issues.

The episode provides valuable insights into the challenges and goals of social care reform in the UK's four nations, emphasising the need for a comprehensive and sustainable approach.

"Social Care in the UK's Four Nations: Between Two Paradigms" is available to buy here: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/care-in-the-uks-four-nations

Chapters 4, 'The mechanisms of social care reform', and 7, 'The limits of social care reform', are available to read Open Access on Bristol University Press Digital.

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Learn more about our research on the Centre for Care website here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

---Intro/outro music: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

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The House of Lords Adult Social Care Committee has been looking into what needs to change to create a fair, resilient and sustainable care system that better enables everyone to ‘live an ordinary life’, and in so doing, to have greater choice and control over their lives.  

This episode is a reflection, in Baroness Andrews' own words, on the recent report published by the Committee, 'A “gloriously ordinary life’’: spotlight on adult social care’. The report included evidence submitted by colleagues at the Centre for Care, including Kate Hamblin, who hosts this episode.

The Baroness gives a first hand account on the workings behind the report, how crucial research helped shape it, and how those with lived experience were central to its creation and successful reception. 

About Baroness Andrews 

Baroness Andrews is Chair of the House of Lords Adult Social Care Committee. Baroness Andrews was a Government Whip and Spokesperson in the House of Lords for Health, Work and Pensions, and Education and Skills from 2003 to 2005, before becoming Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2005 to 2009. From 2009 to 2013, she was the Chair of English Heritage. 

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Read the report ‘A “gloriously ordinary life’’: spotlight on adult social care’

Read Kate Hamblin's commentary on the report here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/commentary/2022/12/reflections-a-gloriously-ordinary-life/

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Learn more about our research on the Centre for Care website here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

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--- Baroness Andrews' profile picture is provided by the https://members.parliament.uk/ website and licensed under a Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) Image has been cropped.

In this episode of the podcast we’re discussing the new EU Care Strategy, which was formally adopted by the European Commission in December 2022. Becky Driscoll, one of our Research Associates, is joined by guests Stecy Yghemonos and Zoe Hughes. 

Stecy shares his insights as the Executive Director of Eurocarers, a pan-European organisation which was closely involved in advocating for what the Strategy should include in order to improve the wellbeing of unpaid carers and properly value caregiving.

Zoe is Senior Policy and Research Officer at Care Alliance Ireland, and shares her perspective from one of the EU member states which will now turn its attention to implementing the recommendations in the Strategy. 

We discuss why it matters to have an EU-wide strategy - what value will it add to the piles of strategy papers produced in different countries? Where is it most likely to have an influence, and could this extend to non-member states such as the UK? What are some of the core values and commitments that are most exciting to see included? Finally, we examine some of the issues which would benefit from re-framing and our hopes for the first stage of implementation.

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Learn more about our research on the Centre for Care website here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

---Intro/outro music: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

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This episode of the CARE MATTERS podcast is dedicated to Katie Mountcastle 1967-2022. A much loved and missed daughter, sister and friend.

To coincide with the publication of the House of Lords report, To coincide with the House of Lords report published today- A “gloriously ordinary life’’: spotlight on adult social care- we are pleased to release a new podcast episode, looking at some of the invisibilities of social care from the perspective of unpaid carers.

The Centre for Care Impact Specialist, Dr Rachael Black, met with unpaid carers Liz Naylor and Chris Sterry to discuss the 'invisibilities' of Social Care. Drawing on their experiences, they explore the misunderstandings and stigma attached to Social Care and share their thoughts on how Social Care could be changed to improve wellbeing amongst those giving or receiving care.

Liz Naylor is a full-time unpaid carer and sits on the equality objectives panel and the expert panel of Sheffield Carers Centre.

Chris Sterry is an unpaid carer and trustee of Sheffield Mencap and Gateway Chris also sits on the expert panel of Sheffield Carers Centre.

Learn more about our research on the Centre for Care website here: https://centreforcare.ac.uk/

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

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Centre for Care Researcher, Dr Duncan Fisher welcomes Professor Teppo Kröger, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care (CoE AgeCare), to the podcast to talk about Teppo's recent publication, 'Care Poverty: When Older People’s Needs Remain Unmet' (click here to read the book).

Visit the website for the Centre of Excellence in Research on Ageing and Care (CoE AgeCare)

Other useful links mentioned in this episode

Article written by Teppo with colleagues Jiby Mathew Puthenparambil and Lina Van Aerschot about care poverty

Article written by Teppo about links between care and disability studies

The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

---Intro/outro music: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

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We are pleased to bring you a two-part episode, hosted by IMPACT Director, Jon Glasby, focussing on the work being done in IMPACT (IMProving Adult Care Together), the new UK centre for implementing evidence in adult social care.  Funded, by the ESRC and the Health Foundation, with £15m over nearly 7 years, IMPACT seeks to help evidence of what works get used in practice to make a difference to services, and hence to people’s lives. 

"We believe that good care isn’t about services, but about having a life – and that evidence can play a key part in achieving this vision."

The University of Sheffield is a partner in IMPACT. IMPACT draws on knowledge gained from different types of research, the lived experience of people using services and carers, and the practice knowledge of social care staff.  

Part 2

Jon Glasby (Host)

Jon is a qualified social worker by background, and works as Professor of Health and Social Care at the University of Birmingham.  He is Director of IMPACT. Click here to learn more at Jon's profile page at the University of Birmingham.

Clenton Farquharson MBE

Clenton is a disabled person with lived experience who draws upon health and social care. Clenton employs his own Personal Assistance, and he looks after his mum's personal budget which his mum uses for her own personal assistance.

He is Chair of the Think Local Act Personal (click here to learn more) programme board, and member of the Coalition for Personalised Care. He is also a member of the Social Care Sector COVID-19 Stakeholder Group which will ensure that concerted and determined action continues to be taken to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the sector, both for those who rely on care and support and the social care workforce.

Clenton was named in Disability News Services’ list of influential disabled people and listed in the top 50 of HSJ’s most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in health. He was also voted top social care leader in the recent Social Care Top 30 awards hosted by Care Talk magazine.

Karen Hedge

As National Director for Scottish Care (click here to learn more), Karen is working to shape the future of social care but is frustrated by the failure of traditional research to move beyond the ‘proof of concept’ stage. She believes IMPACT offers an exciting opportunity to reconsider our approach to evidence implementation by recognising the value and capability of the social care sector. Creating the conditions for real collaboration, critically including those who work in and access care and support, will allow us to move not only to research implementation but embedding. She brings over 20 years sector experience from frontline to Board level, and a passion for evidencing impact in outcomes for people.

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The CARE MATTERS Podcast is produced by Dan Williamson at the Centre for Care.

CIRCLE website: http://circle.group.shef.ac.uk/

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