The DMT Academy and Excellence Awards

Originally trained in planning and in social work, Alison's research interests centre on the balance of care and support across community and institutional settings and on partnership working across health, housing and social care. From 1985 she worked at the Social Work Research Centre at Stirling University, funded by the ESRC and Scottish Government to evaluate social work effectiveness, moving in 1993 to the University of Glasgow as Director of the Nuffield Centre for Community Care Studies. In 2005, the opportunity to put in place her belief that the findings of research need to be used tempted her south to the Dartington Trust to establish Research in Practice for Adults (RiPfA), a partnership agency funded by local authorities to embed evidence-informed practice at the heart of adult social care across England. In 2009 she took the opportunity to return to Scotland as Director of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services, a third sector organisation primarily funded by Scottish Government. Now retired from paid employment, she maintains her commitment to co-design and co-production through involvement with organisations working to improve the quality of life for individuals.