Mind the gap! Building and enhancing research capacity in a local authority through evaluation of a novel domestic abuse intervention

Myall, Michelle, Lund, Susi and Taylor, Sophia (2025) Mind the gap! Building and enhancing research capacity in a local authority through evaluation of a novel domestic abuse intervention. NIHR School for Social Care Research Conference, Milner Hotel, York, United Kingdom. 20 - 21 May 2025.

Abstract

Background: in the UK continuous cuts to public services present a range of challenges for local authorities (LAs) and have led to an increased appetite for high quality and timely evidence to improve public health and social care outcomes and reduce inequalities. More recently, involvement and engagement of LAs in research has been identified as a strategic priority for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to increase research capacity and capability with the social care sector and bridge the gap between practice and academia.

While there is increased enthusiasm for research by LAs, and acknowledgement of its value to underpin policy and practice, there are barriers to its use resulting in poor take up of findings. Researcher-in residence (also known as embedded researcher) roles, which are well established in the National Health System (NHS) have been more recently introduced in LAs. These roles offer a way to bridge the academic-practice/policy gap and a mechanism for building and enhancing research capacity either as consumers, producers, stakeholders or a combination of these roles. They also offer benefits for universities in terms of maximising impact of research that is generated.

Aim: this presentation will explore the experiences of undertaking an evaluation study, as part of a LA researcher-in-residence role, of a novel intervention that provides a holistic, family-centred approach to working with families impacted by domestic abuse. Factors and processes that contribute towards generating evidence relevant to LAs to inform policy, practice and commissioning will be outlined as well as a discussion of challenges of conducting research with and within LAs.

Methods: a scoping study within the LA was undertaken to understand how domestic abuse is managed within and across services. This involved: stakeholder analysis; informal conversations with key stakeholders, and documentary analysis of relevant policy and strategy documents. Data from the scoping work was used to identify research priorities and shared at LA stakeholder meetings to gain consensus on a project. Following identification of a project, an evaluation of the domestic abuse male engagement worker intervention, funding was secured from the local NIHR Applied Research Collaboration for additional researcher time.

Researchers worked with the male engagement worker team to co-develop a protocol for a 12-month mixed-method study, gain ethics and LA approvals, facilitate access to data and identify potential participants.

Findings : within the local authority there was support for the researcher-in-residence role and the evaluation with recognition of its value to inform practice and decision-making for future commissioning. Both the researcher-in-residence and evaluation provided opportunities for partnership working between researchers and LA staff, building research capacity, and knowledge mobilisation. Undertaking the evaluation highlighted complexities for academics undertaking research with local authorities including: differing expectations and ways of working, accessing data, misaligned timelines, differing terminology, what counts as evidence.

Conclusion: the researcher-in-residence role offered an opportunity to undertake research at the boundary between academia and local government and an understanding of the organisational and relational complexities to be navigated to successfully generate evidence that can inform policy and practice decision-making.

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Contributors

Author: Michelle Myall

Author: Sophia Taylor

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