From research to practice: Research-based Intervention Development in social work: developing practice through cooperative knowledge production

There is a widespread consensus in social work that social work practice should be based on research. However, conceptualising how research and practice are interrelated is still evolving and a subject for debate. With little exception, existing concepts and models almost invariably fail to include explicit development processes. In contrast, Research-based Intervention Development conceptualises the interrelation between research and practice in terms of development processes that bridge research and professional action. This essay first outlines Research-based Intervention Development. This concept has been designed to establish a procedure that guides the working process from the findings of scientific research to new social work interventions. It foregrounds development work, and places a so-called Practice Optimisation Cycle at the centre of the model. Then, secondly, an illustrative example of a Practice-Optimisation-Cycle process is presented together with an initial evaluation of this procedure.