Evidence-based policy and practice increasingly demands the use of research as a key tool to improve practice. However, little research can be directly applied to practice, many practitioners aren't equipped to digest research and appropriate support systems are lacking. What is needed is a better understanding of the relationship between social care research and the work of social care practitioners, including what organisational structures are needed to enable the use of research.
This review examines effective ways of promoting research use in social care, explores models of research use that include staff at different levels and settings in social care, and looks at what organisational structures are needed to realise the aim of using research to improve practice.