Iriss

Response by Apex Scotland to the suggestions generated through the Improving research use in the third sector project.

Apex Scotland is a third sector organisation working throughout Scotland to improve the lives of people who have offended or are at risk of offending. It is involved in a range of interventions: from developing employment skills, running a school inclusion unit, and providing drug and alcohol treatment and support.

Below are slides from two workshops conducted as part of a project with Apex Scotland to help improve their research use, and develop wider lessons about supporting research use for third sector organisations. Further details of the project can be found here: Improving research use in the third sector.

Introduction

This case study describes changes to the interior design of a purpose built children's home in Argyll and Bute, which has been used as a children's home since May 2001. The home contains six bedrooms to accommodate the children and young people.

This case study is based on the key findings of research undertaken within Angus Council Social Work and Health (Deacon, 2011), which asked the question - how good is our leadership?

This storyboard (animated video) aims to explain what action research is and how it can help to improve public services. It uses the example of Cedar (Children experiencing domestic abuse recovery) to talk through how action research can be useful and offers some hints and tips for those thinking about undertaking action research themselves.

Higher education repositories are on-line spaces where university staff can deposit their research outputs, making them available for anyone to access for free. This report explores the potential for higher education repositories in Scotland to make a greater contribution to improving access to research for the social services.