Building better social care in Wales
Presenter: Dr Emily Lowthian, Lecturer in Education, Swansea University Abstract “Children who have relatively short periods of care – and/or who experience care in early or late childhood – commonly face the most significant deficit in their educational attainment compared to those with longer and more stable care experiences. Explanatory analyses suggest suspensions, exclusions and… Read More
Presenter: Professor Sara Ryan Abstract People with learning disabilities live with many absences across their lives due to epistemic injustice and ignorance. These absences include respect, employment, sexual intimacy, parenthood and, as we found in our recent study Growing Older, Planning Ahead, ageing. I discuss these findings and reflect on the role of research in… Read More
Presenter: Dr Edmund Coleman-Fountain, University of York, and self-advocates involved in this project Abstract This webinar will explore the “What About Me?” project. Funded by the NIHR (Research for Patient Benefit), the project investigates what it is like to be a person with learning disabilities who relies on unfunded support. The project has been co-produced… Read More
Presenters: Andrea Meek and Dr. Elisa Vigna, National Centre for Mental Health at Cardiff University and Gerraint Jones-Griffiths, Learning Disability Wales/ Honorary Associate at Cardiff University. Abstract This presentation will explore the importance of partnership working in Supported Employment, based on Engage to Change, a 7-year national project supporting young people aged 16-25 with a… Read More
Find out more about our upcoming events and webinars, and how you can sign up, on this page. For a list of past events, visit our archive.
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Irene will talk about two NIHR-funded studies: the Victoria & Stuart Project (co-producing a toolkit of co-created resources that help people with a learning disability to be involved in end of life care planning) and the DAPPLE Project (looking at models of palliative and end of life care delivery for people with a learning disability). Both projects involved groups of people with a learning disability. In this session, Irene will use video recordings of these groups that will show: - How we made the Victoria & Stuart toolkit (almost 200 people were actively involved, including 36 people with a learning disability) - How the DAPPLE co-production group works together to think about study findings Irene will talk about the important principles of co-production, and why it is essential that we include the people who matter most. This might give you ideas that you can take back to your workplace – whether you do research or work with people with a learning disability, or not!
Online, Teams
12:00
- 09/09/2026
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Effective children’s services need to work with parents, yet there is comparatively little research directly observing these often complicated and sometimes difficult conversations. The first half of this talk will share findings from studies observing over 300 recordings of practice to identify key features of effective practice. It will introduce a reliable coding scheme for core social work skills and present key findings from studies using these codes. The second half will compare the views of parents, care experienced adults and social workers with the coding scheme in relation to observations of practice . The seminar will conclude by proposing 4 core dimensions of good practice in working with parents in child and family social work and make suggestions for how individuals and organisations can support excellence in these areas.
Online, Teams
12:00
- 16/09/2026
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This talk will discuss the needs for support with developing positive romantic/intimate relationships of people using mental health services. It will provide an overview of current evidence regarding the views of practitioners and people using mental health services, and the perceived barriers and challenges with discussing or offering support with romantic/intimate relationships. Different models of care and support, and potential learning from other social care sectors, will be considered. This talk hopes to encourage a conversation about whether and how social workers and social care staff could and should be talking to people using mental health services about their needs and wishes for romantic/intimate relationships, and what support could be offered?
Online, Teams
13:00
- 22/09/2026
ExChange Wales brings leading researchers together with practitioners and service users to share expertise, research evidence and care experiences.
Through our conferences, workshops, lectures and seminars, ExChange provides free, high-quality training to support the ongoing development of social care professionals across Wales. Attracting leading national speakers, together we learn and advise on research, impacting both policy and practice. Our events and resources enrich skills while foregrounding the lived experience of care-experienced people.
We have a range of ways that you can work with ExChange. If you wish to host an ExChange workshop, webinar, podcast or blog, simply contact us.
Our first Webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health Abstract In this presentation, offered as a basis for discussion, Peter, drawing on his own and other people’s lived experience, aims to help us rethink both understandings of mental wellbeing and distress and helpful ways of addressing the difficulties we may… Read More
Our second webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health “Webinar: What works to improve the mental health of care-experienced children and young people: Systematic review evidence” Abstract The mental health and wellbeing of care-experienced children and young people remains a major concern. To date, it has not been clear which… Read More
Our fourth webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health Abstract The ability to form strong relationships is viewed as central to mental health recovery. Few studies have explored the experiences of people with mental health problems in forming or maintaining romantic relationships. This study addressed this gap through conducting focus… Read More
Last year, a group of hosts in and around Cardiff, some from CASCADE, worked together to provide Christmas dinner and a celebration for care-experienced people. The team were filled with nerves ahead of the big day, with referrals still coming in up to the week before Christmas. A chef volunteered three days of their time… Read More
** WALES ONLY** Parent Advocacy Online Workshop (Wales) We are inviting social work practitioners and managers, parental advocates, parents, advocacy managers, family support workers and academics in Wales to participate in an online workshop on parental advocacy and its effectiveness in supporting parents whose children are open to social care. The event is part of… Read More
