Professor Donald Forrester

Professor Donald Forrester

Senior Research Leader

Health and Care Research funding award:  

Award: Research Funding Scheme: Social Care Grant (October 2022 - March 2024)

Project title: Understanding the Subjective Well-Being of Younger Children Looked After in Wales: A Qualitative Study Designed with Children in Care Using Creative Methodologies


Professor Forrester’s research in services for vulnerable children focuses on the relationship between professional practices and outcomes for children and their families. He has led studies, reviews and programmes of research using a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. His particular research interests include adapting methodologies to research complex situations, observing and understanding direct practice and evaluating initiatives to improve practice.

Since 2016 he has been the Director of CASCADE, which is one of the leading centres for research in children's social care in the UK. It is also the home to ExChange, the all Wales social care research engagement network.


In the news: 

Health and Care Research Wales invests in leaders across Wales to shape the research of the future (April 2022)

£6.4 million to support vital health and social care research in Wales (October 2022)