'It Took a Leap of Faith.' Care and Connect: A Model for Practitioner Research in Ireland

 Irish social work has been slow to develop a research culture and professional structure to support research capacity. International literature suggests that one of the major reasons for the lack of research activity amongst social work practitioners is the absence of collaborative links between university based researchers and social work practitioners in the field (March and Fisher 2005; Shaw 2003:2005; Gibbs 2001). In 2006, senior staff from Tallaght Hospital, Dublin and the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin, recognised the need for a strategic approach for the promotion of research capacity and activity amongst social work practitioners. This paper discusses an academic/hospital partnership project "Care and Connect", that sought to explore the opportunities for developing practice based research in a health care setting in Dublin.