NIHR Research Programme for Social Care Awards £7.5m Across 14 Projects
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Programme for Social Care (RPSC) has awarded £7.5 million in funding to 14 projects from its first call.
The NIHR Research Programme for Social Care (RPSC) launched in July 2023. RPSC replaced NIHR’s Research for Social Care funding call to become a funding programme.
The 14 newly-funded projects include research on mental health support for young people, the use of data in social care, and social care support for LGBTQ+ communities. Institutions across England and Wales have received funding for the new social care research projects.
RPSC funds research that generates evidence to increase the effectiveness of social care. RPSC funded projects aim to provide value for money and bring benefits to people who need or use social care and carers.
The programme focuses on improving social care for both adults and children and encourages applications from researchers at all stages of their careers. Funding is available for a wide range of social care research topics and research designs.
Applicants in the devolved administrations – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – are all eligible.
RPSC has two researcher-led calls, a series of highlight notices periodically and one themed call per year, the first call launched in September 2023.
Professor Martin Knapp, Director of NIHR Research Programme for Social Care said, “It’s exciting to see such a diverse range of new social care research projects funded from this first call for RPSC. Together these projects have the potential to support services and staff to improve the lives of people who draw on social care support and their carers.”
NIHR Research Programme for Social Care is accepting applications for the latest researcher-led funding opportunity. This call closes 25 June 2025.
14 funded projects
• Understanding Care-Experienced Young People’s Mental Health Help-seeking Behaviour in England – University of Birmingham
• Unseen, unreported, unprotected: disabled Black African/Caribbean and South Asian women’s experiences of domestic violence and abuse in England – University of Central Lancashire
• ReCOgNising and SupportIng Distance dEmentia caRe (CONSIDER) – University of Greenwich
• Caring in death: Pilot evaluation of co-produced palliative dementia care resources for care workers who are hesitant to engage with death and dying – University of Kent
• Scoping the experiences and needs of carers (friends and family) of people living with suicidal thoughts and feelings in LGBTQ+ communities in England – London School of Economics and Political Science
• What is the extent, nature and impact of parental alcohol use on children’s welfare and need for social care services in Wales? A population longitudinal study using linked administrative data – Cardiff University
• Improving the support of people with substance dependence in care homes – University of Bedfordshire
• Understanding the Wellbeing and Support Needs of Carers of Parents with Bipolar – University of Lancaster
• Unmasking Social Care Inequalities: Using Routine Data to Enable Reablement Equity – The University of Manchester
• Social Care Linked Data Lab (CARE Lab) – Cardiff University
• LGBTQ+ Inclusive Home Care Provision – University of Kent
• Co-producing social and community support resources for family carers of people with psychosis (OSMOSIS) – City St George’s University of London and University of Surrey
• The implementation of hybrid child protection conferences in England: a scoping and practice development project – University of East Anglia
• Matching support to needs: A children’s social care RCT testing a standardised comprehensive assessment of the mental health needs of young people in care – University College London
