Context: How do the story themes resonate with other research?

There are similarities between the key experiences described in the stories with other (survey-based) research conducted in 2020 by Community Care (surveys), the Scottish Government (Everyone Matters) and ARC Scotland (We’re All in This Together). Some key similarities from across these three sources include:

• Staff felt motivated, committed and proud of their work during lockdown
• Support from colleagues and managers was key to staff motivation and wellbeing
• Collaborative working being identified as one of the good things to come out of the pandemic
• Staff were pleasantly surprised at the adaptability of supported people during this time
• Improved partnership working - key enablers being a shared vision and information sharing
• Staff enjoying more flexibility (including working from home), regular communication and welcoming technology, while also being concerned about the digital divide.
• In research conducted later in the year staff reported exhaustion, fatigue and worries about the future.
• A hope for the future to move away from prescriptive, service-led interventions towards a more flexible, person-centred approach.

Concerns raised in our stories about the impact of COVID-19 on existing poverty, food insecurity and deprivation are also widely recognised in other research, for example, The Health Foundation report on health inequalities; GPs at the deep end report 36, and Oxfam research on carers to highlight a few.