Project MEND is awarded national research funding to help more men be recruited into social care

In this week’s #GoodNewsFriday, we hear about a research project that has been awarded national funding to answer the question ‘how can more men be recruited into social care?’

Research can help with answering questions asked in social care. An issue, though, is that sometimes research and practice can be worlds apart. Nurturing Innovation in Care Home Excellence in Leeds (NICHE-Leeds) is a partnership bridging the research and practice gap. It brings together the academic knowledge of researchers and vital experience of frontline care workers to shine a light on areas of improvement and interest in social care.

In 2022, Kyle Bonham-Simpson from The Chocolate Works (part of the Springfield Healthcare organisation), asked ‘how can more men be recruited to social care?’ Kyle commented on needing a mix of male and female staff to meet residents’ needs and accommodate their choices and preferences. After Kyle raised this topic, Reena Devi (one of the NICHE-Leeds researchers, working at the University of Leeds) consulted with other stakeholders to get a sense of what others thought. Reena spoke with care home residents, their family and friends, male and female care workers, activity co-ordinators, nurses, care home managers, and human resource staff. Stakeholder feedback resonated with Kyle’s comments. They described the following benefits to employing more male care workers:

1. Staff teams would better reflect the mix of people receiving care.
2. Accommodating preferences for male or female staff is important for social interactions, companionship, and personal care.
3. Staff teams would bring a better mix of talents, skills, and experiences.
4. Men are a relatively ‘new pool’ from which to attract new workers and grow the workforce.

In 2023 sector stakeholders and researchers applied for funding to work together on:

1. understanding more about the men who join, stay, and leave care work
2. looking at how other sectors (e.g. childcare) are increasing the male workforce
3. co-designing ways to attract, recruit, and retain more and diverse male care workers.

The project title is 'ProMoting divErsity and uNDer-represented staff in adult social care; attracting, recruiting and retaining more male care workers' – The MEND Study. The team is made up of care home family and friends, care home staff, national social care organisations, such as Skills for Care and The National Care Forum, and researchers with experience of social care workforce research. The team have been successful in receiving funding from the National Institute of Health and Care Research! The MEND study will be carried out between 2024-2026.

The MEND study team are proud to be working on this important topic! This research started because Kyle Bonham-Simpson showed interest in research. It was his question and curiosity that led to applying for funding. Kyle is part of the team and has an active role in the project. Working for Springfield Healthcare, a care organisation within the NICHE-Leeds partnership meant Kyle had the opportunity to be involved in research.

Kyle Bonham-Simpson from Springfield Healthcare said:

The MEND study is funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research, Research for Social Care (NIHR205721). The views expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR, NHS or Department of Health and Social Care.

Skills for Care supported the team at NICHE-Leeds with their application for funding for this project and are partnering on the research and contributing our expertise. Our specialist adult social care workforce analysts are using data collected anonymously from over 20,000 care organisations nationally to create unique insights into men working in adult social care. This story is just one example of how we can partner with organisations to work on bids and add value to projects.

If you’re interested in this study or NICHE-Leeds, visit the NICHE-Leeds site or follow @LeedsNiche on social media to hear more about this work.

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