Using communities of practice in adult social care to build research capacity and foster best practice: a qualitative evaluation [version 1]

Background

Communities of Practice (COP) are recognised as shared learning spaces that situate learning, deepen knowledge, and facilitate the exchange of expertise within a specific domain. While CoPs often emerge organically, they have been widely adopted across health, social care, and education. However, their civic potential, particularly in enabling people with lived experience of social care to collaborate with practitioners to shape practice and drive meaningful change, remains underexplored.

The Kent Research Partnership, South-East England (2021-5), aimed to build research capacity in adult social care. As part of its workstreams two COPs were co-designed with informal carers and people who draw on care and support. The themes (‘Complex needs’ and ‘Workforce’) were co-developed by a prioritisation exercise. Each COP had monthly online sessions with invited speakers and facilitated discussions. Participants included informal carers, people who draw on care/support, social care practitioners, researchers, and other people interested in the sector.

Methods

This study evaluated the COPs and their contribution to research capacity building in Kent. Using a pragmatic approach, 21 participants were purposively selected and interviewed.

Results

Reflexive thematic analysis generated three key themes: fostering an inclusive and collaborative learning environment; enabling shared learning within and beyond the COPs; and generating shared impact through influence on policy and practice. These findings were mapped against Cooke’s (2005) framework for building research capacity.

Conclusions

Participants valued the inclusive and safe learning space, which supported mutual reflection and knowledge exchange. Relationships formed across roles and settings which helped bridge siloed thinking, validate research ideas, and extend learning beyond the COPs. Time constraints and organisational culture affected frontline social worker participation, despite a recognised need for innovation. Networking emerged as a prominent outcome, leading to new knowledge-exchange collaborations. Future research should focus on understanding the impact of the COPs on organisational level practice and policy.