Dr Kate Hamblin

Co-Investigator, Sustainable Care Research Fellow

Kate joined CIRCLE at the University of Sheffield to work on the Sustainable Care Programme in 2018. Previously she worked at the University of Oxford for almost nine years on projects exploring the balance between unpaid care and paid employment; self-employment and ageing; technology and its role in the care of older people with complex needs; and the role of museums and galleries in promoting wellbeing.

The Sustainable Care programme is not only highly relevant to Kate’s research interests, its ambitious agenda looks to inform the design and delivery of care systems to promote the wellbeing of both those providing and receiving care. It is this aim and the inclusion of international partnerships to encourage cross-national debate and discussion that attracted her to the programme. Kate is working on the overarching theoretical work package as well as those which focus on the role of technology in the provision of care, new models of care provision and support for those combining work and care.

Work packages

Achieving Sustainability in Care Systems

The potential of technology.

Delivering care at home

Emerging models and their implications for sustainability and wellbeing.

Combining work and care

How do workplace support and technologies contribute to sustainable care arrangements.

Modelling care system costs and contributions

Data for a sustainable care and wellbeing strategy.

Research and publications

Burns, D., Goodlad, C., Hamblin, K., and Zimpel-Leal, K. (2022). Innovation in UK independent homecare services: A thematic narrative review. Health & Social Care in the Community, 00, 1– 12.Link

Sustainable Care Paper 3: Care System Sustainability: what role for technology? An evidence review (Jpeg, 224KB)

The Potential of Technology in Adult Social Care (Sustainable Care Policy and Practice Brief, 2020) (PDF, 1.3MB)

Hamblin, K. (2020). Technology and Social Care in a Digital World: Challenges and Opportunities in the UK. Journal of Enabling Technologies, vol 14, 2, 115–125.Link

Sustainable Care Paper 1: Adult social care and wellbeing policy in the four nations of the UK (PDF, 656KB)

The Role of Technology in Making Care Arrangements Sustainable (Sustainable Care Policy Perspective 2018) (PDF, 1.1MB)

Supporting Carers to Work and Care (Sustainable Care Policy Perspective 2018) (PDF, 1.3MB)

How Can We Create Better Jobs in Care? (Sustainable Care policy Perspective 2018) (PDF, 1.1MB)

Hamblin, K., Yeandle, S., and Fry, G. (2017). Researching telecare: the importance of context. Journal of Enabling Technologies, 11(3), 75–84.

Hamblin, K. (2017). Book Review-The Politics and Policy of Wellbeing: Understanding the Rise and Significance of a New Agenda, by Ian Bache and Louise Reardon, Journal of Population Ageing, Online first, 1–3.

Hamblin, K. (2016) Telecare, obtrusiveness, acceptance and use: an empirical exploration, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol 80(2) 132–138.

Hamblin, K. (2016). Research Report: Museums, Oral History, Reminiscence and Wellbeing: Establishing Collaboration and Outcomes, Oxford: Oxford Institute of Population Ageing Research Report.

Hamblin, K. (2016). Book Review: Paid Work Beyond Pension Age: Comparative Perspectives, Journal of Population Ageing, vol. 9, Issue 1-2: 179–182.