History
ripfa, a department of the Dartington Hall Trust was established in September 2005 to promote the use of evidence-informed practice in the planning and delivery of adult social care services. The organisation is modelled on its sister organisation research in practice which has worked with children’s services since 1996.
Aims
The overarching aims of ripfa are:
- To develop effective models of research utilisation for all sectors of the workforce
- To create networks that will enable Partner organisations to share and learn from each other’s experiences
- To commission new research reviews where significant gaps are identified
- To incorporate the knowledge and experience of social care practitioners into learning programmes
- To build expertise in integrating service user views into the operations of research in practice for adults and its Partners
- To promote better research utilisation strategies within national policy and practice frameworks
Consistently we aim to:
- Promote the involvement of users and carers throughout our work
- Adopt an outcomes-focused approach
- Work to a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency perspective
Our key aims for this year are as follows:
Core Aims
- Ensure the consistent delivery to a high standard of our core products
- Develop effective models for delivering Change Projects and one-to-one support
- Promote strategies that will ensure ripfa is key to the delivery of evidence-informed policy and practice for adults
Development aims
- Steady recruitment of a range of Partner agencies
- Explore the potential of our website for delivery of new channels for evidence-informed practice
- Develop techniques for systematic examination of the impact of our activities
Enabling aims
- Continue to seek funding from sources additional to Partner agencies
- Ensure the administrative and governance structures of ripfa are high quality and robust
Delivery methods
Our delivery methods include learning events, information exchange networks, practice development, Change Projects, research briefings, website products and a programme of individual support to Partner agencies.
There are six strands to our work:
- learning events
- publications
- network exchange
- Change Projects
- website resources
- collaborative working with other activities within the Social Justice programme and across Dartington more widely, and with external organisations
Core Values
As an organisation we seek to work to a set of core values:
- Making a difference
- Flexibility and creativity
- Respect
- Honesty
- Autonomy
Against this background we seek to maximise the opportunities for learning from the experiences across our Partner network; to work to an outcomes focus; to ensure our activities are informed by those who use services; and to adopt a multidisciplinary and multi-agency focus.
Governance
The Director of research in practice for adults reports to the Director of Social Justice, who is one of the Executive Directors of The Dartington Hall Trust.
The overall governance and accountability arrangements are held by the Dartington Hall Trust, which carries ultimate financial and legal responsibility. Strategic direction is delegated to the Partnership Board, which represents the Partners of ripfa - the key stakeholders. These responsibilities are carried out through the Partnership Board which has been established for ripfa. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) act as professional sponsor for ripfa.
Partnership Board
These are the current members of the ripfa Partnership Board:
- Bernard Walker, Chair, Executive Director, Health and Wellbeing, Wigan Council
- Peter Hay, Strategic Director, Adults and Communities, Birmingham City Council
- Carol Lupton, Policy Research Programme, Department of Health
- Jenny Owen, Executive Director, Adults, Health and Community Wellbeing, Essex County Council
- Steve Pitt, Director, Adult and Community Services, Dorset County Council
- Carol Tozer, People Commissioner, Torbay Council
- Dawn Warwick, Director of Adult Social Services Department, Wandsworth Borough Council
- Martin Knapp, Director, National School for Social Care Research
- Ray Jones, Ex Chair
- Vaughan Lindsay, Chief Executive Officer, Dartington Hall Trust
- Celia Atherton, Director of Social Justice, Dartington Hall Trust
- Richard Webb, Executive Director of Communities, Sheffield City Council
research in practice for adults is one of the key elements of the Dartington Social Justice programme, currently also encompassing research in practice, the C4EO Capacity Building team, and new projects to develop a retirement community at Dartington, and to support rehabilitation work for ex-offenders. The programme will build over the next few years - working to establish strong lines of activity in practical experimentation, direct research to match our proven strength in professional service support, and the development of opportunities for wider reflection and debate about pressing issues in the region, the UK and globally. As a member of the Social Justice Management Team the new director of research in practice for adults will be an essential part of the development of this programme.
