News and Blog

Without European intervention, equality for disabled people in Britain would be a distant dream

The representation of disabled people in government has never been more important. In 2014, 19% of British residents said that they were disabled. The country also has an ageing population and 42% of state pension age adults – 5m people altogether – are living with disabilities. Before the EU referendum, fears abound that the laws in place to help and protect…

ADRC-W Alcohol Consumption and Population Health Seminar

The latest Administrative Data Research Centre Wales (ADRC-W) seminar on ‘Alcohol Consumption and Population Health’ took place today at Cardiff University’s main building. ADRC-W provides a data linkage service and is one of four UK centres within the Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN). The centre is located within Swansea University and the Wales Institute of Social…

The IDEAL study: Finding strategies to live well with dementia

The National Assembly for Wales’ Health, Social Care and Sport Committee heard evidence earlier today on the draft national dementia strategy, ‘Together for a Dementia Friendly Wales 2017 – 2022’. Organisations such as The Alzheimer’s Society, Age Cymru, the Wales Carers Alliance and representatives from a range of healthcare professions shared their views on how…

The IDEAL study: Finding strategies to live well with dementia

Finding strategies to live well with dementia is increasingly a focus of UK government policy.  But, we know relatively about what living well with dementia means to the people and families affected by it, or what factors support living well and what factors act as a barrier to living well. I’m a qualitative researcher based…

Chinese visiting international fellows at WISERD

WISERD has hosted five visiting international research fellows led by Professor Lin Xiao from the Institute of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Beijing. The visit is part of a two year joint Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/British Academy Newton Advanced Fellowships programme, entitled: ‘Improving Social Welfare System in China: Urbanization, Community…

Launch of WISERD Centre for Welsh Politics and Society at Aberystwyth University

On Monday 28 November the WISERD Centre for Welsh Politics and Society (CWPS) was launched at Aberystwyth University. This new interdisciplinary research centre aims to develop an understanding of contemporary politics and society in Wales, and contribute to the public and policy debates on a range of issues. The centre aims to achieve its objectives…

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2016

WISERD offered three events as part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’s week-long celebration of the social sciences and social science research. As with previous years’ events, the festival provided a variety of free activities across the UK. One such event was hosted by WISERD in Cardiff and facilitated by Dr. Scott Orford….

New Report: Why we need social innovation in home care of the elderly

Professor Ian Rees Jones collaborates on new Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) report. The joint report launched on 12 September 2016 at the Fairer Futures: Reshaping Care for Older People symposium, argues that, with a social innovation approach, local authorities could provide better home care which benefited carers and cared. Published to coincide…

WISERD Annual Conference 2016: Photo Gallery

Wales’ largest social science conference took place at the new Bay Campus at Swansea University last week. The seventh annual event brought together practitioners, policy makers and social scientists to discuss and debate themes such as health; social care; wellbeing; education; culture & values; environment; labour markets; devolution; and civil society – with over 70 papers…