Sociology and Social Policy

Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE)

Operating between 2006 and 2015, CIRCLE was a research centre which carried out research, evaluation and bespoke consultancy on contemporary issues and debates in three key areas: Care; Labour; and Equalities.

The Centre was led by Director, Professor Sue Yeandle, and Deputy Director, Dr Andrea Wigfield, and comprised a strong team of academics and researchers who worked flexibly with policy makers and practitioners in the public, private and voluntary sectors as partners, collaborators, funders and clients. The team was supported by a dedicated administrative team and a pool of research associates.

On 1st October 2015, Sue Yeandle and Andrea Wigfield moved to the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield. Enquiries should be addressed to them at their new email addresses: s.yeandle@sheffield.ac.uk and a.wigfield@sheffield.ac.uk.

Research Projects

• SENSE – Using technology to support older adults with dual sensory impairment

  Building on two existing research projects involving older people with dual sensory impairment (DSI), Sense has commissioned this study to enhance understanding of the role of telecare and other technologies in supporting older people with DSI to live independently in their own homes.

• Evaluation of Fit as a Fiddle

  The project evaluates three programmes included in the Fit as a Fiddle Portfolio through the quantitative analysis of data collected in a longitudinal survey, case studies and other methodologies

• DMBC – Service review for Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council assistive technology services

  This study was an evaluation of the current provision of Assistive Technology Services in Doncaster

• Needs of carers in North Lincolnshire: A Scoping Exercise

  This project was a scoping exercise to assess the needs of carers in North Lincolnshire on behalf of NHS North Lincolnshire and to inform the development of local carers’ centres and to direct policy.

• Workforce Development for Assisted Living Technology

  This project involved case studies with three local authorities to explore workforce development and Assisted Living Technology, and an online survey of a large number of organisations throughout England which are involved in delivering Assisted Living Technology Services.

• Evaluation of Supporting Carers in General Practice

  This project was an evaluation of the Department of Health-funded programme ‘Supporting Carers in General Practice’, which comprised three projects led by the Royal College of GPs, Carers UK, and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers (PRTC)/Crossroads Care.

• FLOWS: The impact of local welfare systems on female labour force participation and social cohesion

  The project analysed how local provision affects the labour market participation of women and how female employment affects the life-course (of women and men), impacts on structures of inequality and social cohesion.

• NIHR Improving employment opportunities for carers

  This study collected, assessed and synthesised evidence of what works in supporting carer employment, with the aim of producing guidance suitable for use in social care England-wide.

• AKTIVE – Advancing Knowledge of Telecare for Independence and Vitality in later lifE

  AKTIVE investigated the characteristics of older people who use telecare, with a focus on older people with memory problems and/or susceptibility to falls. It evaluated the use of telecare equipment in private homes, and how carers can benefit from the use of telecare in older peoples’ homes.

• ICT based solutions for caregivers

  The main goal of this project was to investigate the potential impact of information and communication technologies on informal carers of older people living in the community (eg. relatives and friends) as well as on paid assistants employed by private households.

• Developing a clearer understanding of the Carer’s Allowance Claimant Group

  This study of the lives and circumstances of people receiving Carers Allowance was commissioned by the DWP in autumn 2009.

• Evaluation of the National Carers’ Strategy Demonstrator Sites Programme

  This project evaluated the impact and effectiveness of three types of interventions led by Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities in England: health checks for carers; innovations in breaks and respite for carers; and enhanced NHS support for carers.

• Provision of replacement/alternative care for Jobcentre Plus customers who are carers

  CIRCLE was commissioned to carry out a small study in Autumn 2009 to draw together intelligence and expertise held by professionals in the voluntary and statutory sectors.

• The potential of ICT in supporting the provision of domiciliary care

  Contribution to a UK study which explored how ICT affects, and can potentially support, those providing home-based care on a paid or unpaid basis to disabled, sick or older people

• Telecare: a crucial opportunity to help save our health and social care system

  This paper offers a review of the landscape for the delivery of health and social care in the future, noting the pressures on unpaid carers and home care providers and the rising costs of supporting England’s growing population of older, sick and disabled people, in today’s current economic climate

• Regional factsheets on carers

  These factsheets draw extensively on statistical datasets and carer-related information to include insight into the number and characteristics of carers in each region as well as information about carer health and well-being, housing issues, ethnicity, and employment circumstances.

• Equality Statistics in Practice at a Local Level

  This study reported on case studies of eleven locally based public sector organisations, and investigated what equality statistics they collect and use, and the specific uses they make of statistical data in their policies and practices relating to equality, diversity and human rights.

• Exploring the impact and potential benefits of telecare for carers in Scotland

  This project was commissioned by Carers Scotland, with funds from the Scottish Government’s Joint Improvement Team, to look at the impact and potential benefits of telecare for unpaid carers in Scotland.

• Evaluation of the Caring with Confidence Programme

  This major piece of work examines the way the Caring with Confidence programme has been set up, its impact as a source of support of carers in England, and its effects as perceived by both carers and the providers delivering it.

• Cross National Comparison of Child Care Policy Options and Implementations

  This collaboration concerned Child Care, Welfare Reform and Women’s Labour Force participation. The project was the first part of a cross-national comparative study of Australia and the UK

• Child care, welfare reform and women's labour force participation

  This project is the first part of a cross-national comparative study of Australia and the UK. Its aim is to produce a scoping study of childcare policy choices and trajectories.

• Review of Local Authorities’ Use of Carers Grant

  This project reported on a study of local authorities in England, designed to review what use they had made of their Carers Grant budget.

• Migration and networks of care in Europe

  The overall project is about the provision of domestic services in private households in Europe.

• The relational politics of equalities policy making

  This project develops a new way of thinking about governance and policy making in welfare. Its aim is to explore the gap between rhetoric and 'reality' in equalities work.

• Carers, employment and services (CES)

  The research explored working carers' experiences of combining work and care, and accessing services, with a particular emphasis on the situation of ethnic minority carers, gay and lesbian carers, carers in a variety of financial circumstances, and carers living in rural and urban localities.

• Gender and Employment in Local Labour Markets (GELLM)

  The programme comprised a major programme of statistical analysis, reported in a series of Gender Profiles, six newLocal Research Studies (each producing a series of local reports and a synthesis report), and an extensive programme of dissemination and gender mainstreaming activities.

• Parental empowerment in Sure Start programmes

  This study was commissioned by the National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS), to take a closer look at parents' experiences of empowerment, at the forms and effects of mutual support, self-help and community action that have been developed, and at the significance of these for work in Sure Start programmes.

• ESRC Research Group for the Study of Care, Values and the Future of Welfare

  The ESRC Research Group on Care, Values and the Future of Welfare (CAVA), based at the University of Leeds, was set up in 1999 to deliver a five-year research programme on changes in parenting, partnering and the implications of these for future social policies.