Deadline: 28-Jul-23
The Dunhill Medical Trust is seeking applications for the Capability Development Programme.
The Dunhill Medical Trust is launching this expanded programme of support because they believe that if community organisations are to take their rightful place at the heart of an improved system of health and social care for older people, they need to invest in ensuring that they have the capacity, research literacy, supportive networks and access to a robust evidence base to do so.
In recent years there has been a considerable change in the context in which community organisations are operating. Those working in housing, health and social care need to respond to changes such as the introduction of Integrated Care Systems or social outcomes contracts, for example and are seeking to take their place as experienced, needed, commissionable organisations.
There is also a real and urgent need for the development and delivery of evidence-informed policies and services and there are increasing opportunities for community organisations to co-lead health and social care research as partners or investigators and so, when they launch this new programme, they will be adding a “research readiness” module.
What is the capability development programme?
- A cohort of eight community organisations will follow a three-year programme of shared learning, encompassing strategy, sustainability, impact and research readiness, literacy, and engagement.
- Strategy, sustainability and impact
- To deliver the strategy, sustainability and impact content, their partners Moore Kingston Smith Nonprofit Advisory (MKSNA) will be utilising the RISE Framework which is pinned on these four elements:
- Re-imagine
- Impact
- Sustainability
- Efficiency
- Running throughout the framework will be content on governance; leadership, people, and culture; and fundraising/income generation strategy. The model will also consider the balance between risk and strategy.
- To deliver the strategy, sustainability and impact content, their partners Moore Kingston Smith Nonprofit Advisory (MKSNA) will be utilising the RISE Framework which is pinned on these four elements:
- The aim of this section of the programme is to:
- increase the participating organisations potential for long-term sustainability, and
- create organisations that are better equipped to make more evidence-based decisions in the development of their strategic direction and operational activity.
- Research readiness, literacy, and engagement
- Delivered by the University of Birmingham, the aim of the research readiness component is to enable participants to better understand the research landscape of health and social care in the UK and identify how their organisations could engage with related funding and impact opportunities.
- The learning objectives would be:
- To understand the research infrastructure of health and social care in the UK including funding, ethics, and support bodies
- To explore how universities work in practice including academic careers, institutional incentives, and partnership processes
- To consider approaches to collaboration between the voluntary and community sector and researchers.
- To identify opportunities for voluntary and community sector organisations to add value to their work through engagement with research.
Eligibility Criteria
- They are looking for community organisations that are:
- Well networked within their localities and so are able and willing to share the learning gained from this programme with other organisations.
- Ready, able and committed to implementing the learning throughout their organisation.
- Proactive, engaged and have specific issues they wish to address to enable them to take their rightful place in the new eco-system.
- Interested in exploring the new opportunities within the research environment including collaborating with the academic and clinical research base, securing funding for their activities and publishing insights from practice.
- It’s also important that there’s a commitment at the leadership level of the organisation to using the evidence base to support positive, systemic change. This might involve thinking about how research and evidence is used to make the case to commissioners or other funders, developing new or better business models or implementing systems to become more financially sustainable and ‘research-ready’.
- The programme is restricted to eight organisations for each cohort, and they are offering two places per organisation, ideally the Chair and Chief Executive.
- They are passionate about creating age-friendly communities so they’re looking for community organisations that play their part in delivering these. You might be an almshouse or other older persons’ housing charity, or you might run a social prescribing scheme, or other care and advice services such as handy persons services, befriending, peer support and advice and advocacy.
- Each year will commence and conclude with a residential over two half days the remainder of the programme will be delivered online.
For more information, visit Capability Development Programme.
