Developing Innovation in Social Work and Social Care Organisations

Innovation in social care settings: moving from idea to actuality

An online CPD mini-module 


  • Are you a social care leader who is keen to introduce more beneficial and effective practice approaches for your setting?
  • Do you need some help in translating social innovation theory into practice realities?

This sequence of three x 1.5 hour online workshops are designed to help leaders in social work, social care and related third sector organisations start to plan the design and delivery of innovative new interventions or system features. Drawing on key findings and practice tools from a four-year study of innovation the workshops will cover the following issues:

  • Clarifying your service gap or inefficiency and why innovation might address it
  • Selecting the change process most suitable for your aims and resources
  • Ethical and practical principles to guide each stage of the innovation process
  • Building a data-informed case for change and getting buy-in
  • Determining your service’s local conditions and capacity for innovation
  • Uncovering wider system influences on innovation
  • Culture, leadership, trust and collaboration
  • Design, implementation and testing
  • Planning priority areas of action

Dates/times:

  • Tuesday 19th January 2027 9.30-11am
  • Tuesday 2nd February 2027 9.30-11am
  • Tuesday 23rd February 2027 9.30-11am

Platform:

Microsoft Teams

Commitment:

  • Attendees would be expected to attend all three workshops as the learning builds from one session to the next.
  • Attendees will be provided with preparatory and follow-up reading for each session. This would be beneficial should they wish to progress their innovation ideas, but not mandatory.
  • Attendees will be offered planning tasks to complete in relation to their innovation ideas, should they wish to do so.

Workshop leader: Professor Michelle Lefevre, Dept. of Social Work and Social Care at the University of Sussex. Michelle is a registered social worker, with 35 years’ experience in the fields of research, practice and social work education. Michelle’s expertise centres around innovation, practice improvement, evaluation, risk and safeguarding, and relationship-based practice. She has published widely in the field, including her 2024 co-authored book on Innovation in Social Care, and 2025 article on Creating a conducive zone for innovation in children’s social care.

If you are interested

Please email:  socialchangehub@sussex.ac.uk