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Apply for Approval for Social Research
What is the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP) external research application process?
The GCHSCP external research application process is in place for students / researchers to apply for approval to conduct social research with social work service users, social work staff or social work data in relation to social care services that GCHSCP is responsible for providing.
Applicants should note that a separate NHS external research application process exists for applications to conduct social research related to health services with patients, health staff or health data in any health setting, including those health services GCHSCP is responsible for providing.
Separate applications require to be submitted via both the GCHSCP and the NHS external research application processes for any research requests involving both social work and health service users/patients, staff or data related to HSCP functions.
Education Services have a separate process for applications to conduct research on their Research Access in Schools webpage
Why do I have to apply for approval for my research?
The approval application process, which includes ethical approval, is in place to protect service users, staff, data and the researcher, ensure effective use of our resources and ensure compliance with relevant legislation (for example GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).
All reliable and rigorous social research is conducted with due consideration of ethical issues at all stages of the research design and implementation process. All external research approved by Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP) must conform to the highest ethical standards, to ensure that, above all, service users, staff and the researcher are safeguarded from harms that could arise from such research and that HSCP data is protected. Among the ethical issues that researchers must consider and address are those related to equality. For example, sampling should be inclusive and reflective of the researched population and communication should be accessible by using alternative formats and languages to enable everyone to engage. Further ethical considerations are listed on the application form assessment criteria checklist.
What themes should I consider researching?
The HSCP encourages applicants to consider equalities issues when selecting their research topic and planning and conducting their research.
A list of approved research themes is shown below. We welcome applications for research on topics related to these themes including those that focus on equalities issues and protected characteristics.
While applications to conduct research related to themes on the list will be considered more favourably, approval is not guaranteed since they will still be subject to the scrutiny of the full external research application process
| Care Group | Theme(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adult and Older People Services | Consider well-being outcomes and choice for older carers when caring for a young adult with additional needs | Consider the impact on ageing carers of young adults with physical and/or learning disabilities |
| 2 | Adult and Older People Services | Domestic Abuse: older people and carers - explore the opportunities for service development and care delivery | |
| 3 | Adult and Older People Services | Investigating the use of Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) within Adult and Older People Services | How might FGDM be successfully adapted from the model implemented in Children's Services to Adults/Older People Services? A focus on areas where the current statutory response can contribute to a loss of independence for service users or reduced involvement in decision making about their care should be looked at |
| 4 | Adult Services/Older People | Health and Social Care Connect: Examining 'destitution' referrals in respect of adults and older people and the effectiveness of responses to these referrals, including the impact of on site Welfare Rights support | Consider: the impact of increases in fuel costs; cost of living increases |
| 5 | Adult Services Mental Health | Examining the experiences of qualified mental health officers working in Glasgow City HSCP | |
| 6 | Adult Support & Protection (ASP) | Evaluate outcomes for service users following an intervention under ASP | |
| 7 | Adult Support & Protection (ASP) | Investigating service user and stakeholder participation in the ASP process | Consider the impact that technology (eg. video calling) has on the participation of service users and/or other stakeholders |
| 8 | Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services (ADRS) | Consider the benefits and challenges in recovery conversations at the earliest point in treatment and care | |
| 9 | Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services (ADRS) | Experiences of women in treatment and care services | |
| 10 | Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services (ADRS) | Family involvement in recovery planning - what are the key benefits and challenges of the family role? | |
| 11 | Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services (ADRS) | How do we ensure that the social work role is embedded in meeting the Medication Assisted Treatment Standards within Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services | |
| 12 | Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services (ADRS)/Children's Services | Parental substance use - does available support reduce the impact on children and their carers | |
| 13 | Children's Services | Aftercare - how should young people aged 16+ be supported to achieve good outcomes? | Potential for small and larger scale research |
| 14 | Children's Services | Continuing care - how should young people aged 16+ be supported to achieve good outcomes? | Potential for small and larger scale research |
| 15 | Children's Services | Education and educational outcomes for care experienced children | |
| 16 | Children's Services | How do we engage much more effectively and systematically with dads - to build effective parenting and avoid escalation? | |
| 17 | Children's Services | How do we improve our practice in working with LGBT+ children and young people? | |
| 18 | Children's Services | How do we take the learning from other services to develop peer support across Children's Services? | Inc. kinship care; foster care; children's health and disability |
| 19 | Children's Services | How do we work creatively with families with a long history of social work involvement to support meaningful positive change? | |
| 20 | Children's Services | Improving quality of care plans for looked after/looked after and accommodated children and young people in light of technological developments | Include focus on brothers and sisters contact using new technologies |
| 21 | Children's Services | Kinship care | Support for children/young people & carers |
| 22 | Children's Services | Promoting long term stability of placements for looked after children, for example in foster care | |
| 23 | Children's Services | Researching the use of the Youth Court and the impact it has on outcomes for young people | |
| 24 | Children's Services | Supporting children/young people and whole families on the edge of care - what works to prevent family breakdown? | Early intervention/prevention, family support. What do families find useful? What amplifies the voice of families and children/young people. Link to anti-poverty strategies. |
| 25 | Children's Services | Tackling child poverty | Students should identify narrower more focussed projects within this heading |
| 26 | Children's Services | What do children/young people and families tell us is helpful for children/young people with neurodiversity or suspected neurodiversity? | |
| 27 | Children's Services | What do effective early intervention and prevention services look like for children and young people experiencing difficulties with their well-being and mental health? | |
| 28 | Cross cutting | Health and Social Care Connect: Investigating referrals made in respect of people with no recourse to public funds and the responses to these referrals | |
| 29 | Cross cutting | How can consumer technology support the provision of social care? | Consider barriers to sharing data and ways this can be overcome |
| 30 | Cross cutting | Investigate the relationship between Self Directed Support (SDS) and Maximising Independence in Glasgow | Consider across all care groups |
| 31 | Cross cutting | What opportunities does AI present for the future of social care provision? | |
| 32 | Homelessness | Examining best practice in relation to homeless or people threatened with homelessness who experience domestic abuse | Within a Housing Options context and trying to sustain people that experience domestic abuse in their current accommodation |
| 33 | Homelessness | Examining best practice in relation to homeless or people threatened with homelessness who experience domestic abuse | For homeless people who experience domestic abuse and have to leave their accommodation |
| 34 | Homelessness | Examining best practice in relation to homeless or people threatened with homelessness who experience domestic abuse | For homeless or people threatened with homelessness with complex trauma who experience domestic abuse |
| 35 | Homelessness | From a lived experience perspective what barriers and supports have Housing First service users encountered in accessing mental health services? | |
| 36 | Homelessness | Housing First service tenancy sustainment: Investigating key barriers and enablers | Consider through a mental health lens |
| 37 | Homelessness | Housing First tenancy breakdown: Investigating supports available for individual service users | |
| 38 | Homelessness | Housing First: The effectiveness of partnership working/integration of agencies and the impact on outcomes for service users | |
| 39 | Homelessness | Impact of positive service relationships on Housing First outcomes | |
| 40 | Homelessness | What influences service users engagement with support services pre- and post- Housing First? | |
| 41 | Justice Services | Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Outcome Star Tool with Criminal Justice service users | |
| 42 | Justice Services | Examining experiences around 2016 legislation with reduction of time on Non Parole Licence | How does a shorter time on licence prepare service users for the future? |
| 43 | Justice Services | Examining the experience of presenting for a Criminal Justice Social Work report and identifying any barriers to this | |
| 44 | Justice Services | Examining the impact of unpaid work (both positive and negative) on service users journey to desistance | |
| 45 | Justice Services | Examining the prevalence of learning difficulties/disabilities within the Criminal Justice service user population and the issues that impact on this group | |
| 46 | Justice Services | Profiling the ageing population returning from custody to the community - the range of needs and service challenges | |
| 47 | Justice Services | Tomorrows Women Glasgow service users who have had their children removed from their care: Investigating the scale of this and the impact of this on the service users | |
| 48 | Older People Services | Consider the benefits of physical activity for older people alongside the ADL Life Curve model | Consider within a care home setting |
| 49 | Older People Services | Examining the effectiveness and efficiency of Social Work/HSCP resources responding to acute electronic early referrals under the Discharge without Delay agenda | |
| 50 | Older People Services | Experiences of transition from community setting to long term care in Glasgow | Consider: experience of individual and family. Experience at different stages of transition |
| 51 | Older People Services | How can individuals best be supported to have a 'healthy' transition from community to long term care? | Literature review highlighting examples of best practice |
| 52 | Older People Services | Opportunities for anticipatory care within care and residential facilities | Case study approach to understand opportunities for earlier intervention and triangulated with stakeholder perception |
| Last Updated: July 2023 | |||
How do I apply?
In order to start the application process, you should fill out the 
External Research Application Pack [92kb] and return it to sw_research@sw.glasgow.gov.uk
The form includes a checklist of documents that should be submitted when you return your application.
When should I apply?
In order to ensure that you get a decision that meets the planned timescales of your research, you should submit your application at least one month before you need access to our resources.
We receive many external research applications every year. Unfortunately, we are unable to approve every application we receive for a variety of reasons.
How much does it cost?
The application process is free of charge
