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GUEST BLOG

Welcome to the ENRICH guest blog

Read the real-life experiences of people involved in care home research.

Anyone with a story or advice they'd like to share is encouraged to make contact using the contact us page.

Read about current news and developments for care homes research in the new posts section.

Jo Brown is a researcher working at in the Policy Institute at King’s College London with Dr Caroline Emmer de Albuquerque Green. She specialises in qualitative research and is interested in mental health, dementia, and the role of unpaid carers.

28th August
2023

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The right to a care supporter: new research from King’s College London

Jo Brown is a researcher working at in the Policy Institute at King’s College London with Dr Caroline Emmer de Albuquerque Green. She specialises in qualitative research and is interested in mental health, dementia, and the role of unpaid carers.

In this blog I am going to explain what a ‘care supporter’ is and what a potential new right to nominate one might mean in practice. I will also share some ways that you can find out more about our research and the resources we will be producing.

Brittany Nocivelli is a PhD student at Cardiff University, School of Medicine, working in the Division of Population Medicine and the Centre for Trials Research groups.

1st August
2023

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Overcoming barriers and facilitators to including care home residents in research – recommendations for researchers

Brittany Nocivelli is a PhD student at Cardiff University, School of Medicine, working in the Division of Population Medicine and the Centre for Trials Research groups.

I am going to discuss the findings and outcomes of my recent scoping review which aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators to the inclusion of older adults living in UK care homes in research.

Vicki Goodwin MBE, Professor of Ageing and Rehabilitation, NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula (PenARC) at the University of Exeter.

30th June
2023

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Including older people in research – why wouldn’t you?

Vicki Goodwin MBE, Professor of Ageing and Rehabilitation, NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula (PenARC) at the University of Exeter.

Older people are often excluded from health and social care research. This blog discusses recently published recommendations are trying to address this issue.

16th May
2023

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Engaging care home residents in research (ENGAGE project)

Brittany Nocivelli is a PhD student at Cardiff University, School of Medicine, working in the Division of Population Medicine and the Centre for Trials Research groups. She has previously graduated from Cardiff University with BSc and MSc degrees in Psychology. Brittany has an interest in research inclusivity and her PhD project focuses on identifying the barriers and facilitators to care home resident research participation, and the development of an intervention to support residents in decision-making and advance planning for research.

There is an opportunity for care home residents, relatives and friends, care home staff and other health and social care professionals who work with care homes, and researchers, to get involved at the current stage of this project for which we are actively recruiting.

Elizabeth Hancock is the manager of Fulford Nursing Home, located in Fulford, York. Fulford first opened 22 years ago and is the last standing family-run home in York. Lizzie firmly believes that working with friends is essential and that it promotes best practices, as there’s always another set of eyes on things.

30th March
2023

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Fulford Nursing Home – What we discovered by committing to research in a care home setting

Elizabeth Hancock is the manager of Fulford Nursing Home, located in Fulford, York. Fulford first opened 22 years ago and is the last standing family-run home in York. Lizzie firmly believes that working with friends is essential and that it promotes best practices, as there’s always another set of eyes on things.

In this blog, I’d like to take you through some of the exciting benefits I’ve seen in getting Fulford involved in ongoing care home research.

Petra trained in Rehabilitation Medicine and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Helen is a Clinical Associate Professor in same department, and is Associate Director of the NIHR- funded Quality, Safety and Outcomes of Health and Social Care Policy Research Unit.

1st March
2023

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Before the Grant: Early Involvement of Experts by Experience in Care Home Research

Petra trained in Rehabilitation Medicine and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Helen is a Clinical Associate Professor in same department, and is Associate Director of the NIHR- funded Quality, Safety and Outcomes of Health and Social Care Policy Research Unit.

In this blog, we draw on our experiences of developing research to explore coordination of care between care homes and the National Health Service (NHS). The system of healthcare in England can seem daunting and disjointed to many people, but particularly to people living in care homes, families and staff. We wanted to find out about a new role that had been created in the NHS during the pandemic, which was intended to boost standards and coordination of healthcare for people living in care homes. In the early stages of planning the research, we wanted to find out what people who live in care homes thought would be important to know, and to include questions which
researchers or professionals might not ask.

Dr Gary Hodge is a Registered Mental Health Nurse and Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth, School of Nursing and Midwifery.

14th February
2023

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The Enhanced Health in Care Homes Framework study (The EHCH Study)

Dr Gary Hodge is a Registered Mental Health Nurse and Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth, School of Nursing and Midwifery.

In this blog, Gary introduces the ongoing EHCH Study, which continues to recruit care homes in a two regions of South West England.

People living in care homes should expect the same level of support as if they were living in their own home. This can only be achieved through collaborative working between statutory health and social care providers, the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, and care home partners. The EHCH model includes seven care elements, which move away from traditional reactive models of care delivery towards proactive care is centred on the needs of individual residents, their families, and care home staff. Such care can only be achieved through a whole-system, collaborative approach.

Fawn Harrad-Hyde is a researcher currently working in two roles. At the University of Leicester, she is employed as a LOROS Research Associate in Palliative Care and Frailty. At the Clinical Research Network West Midlands, she leads the ENRICH team.

17th November
2022

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Understanding hospital transfers from care homes by focussing on the decisions made by care home staff

Fawn Harrad-Hyde is a researcher currently working in two roles. At the University of Leicester, she is employed as a LOROS Research Associate in Palliative Care and Frailty. At the Clinical Research Network West Midlands, she leads the ENRICH team.

In this blog I describe a research project that aimed to understand hospital transfers from care homes by focusing on the work and decisions of care home staff.

My name is Rachel Lewis and I am a pharmacist.  I am currently undertaking a PhD research study funded by ARC EM at the University of Leicester focussed on a person-centred approach to  Pharmacist-led medication reviews for older care home residents.

31st October
2022

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Enabling person-centred pharmacist medication reviews for older care home residents.

My name is Rachel Lewis and I am a pharmacist. I am currently undertaking a PhD research study funded by ARC EM at the University of Leicester focussed on a person-centred approach to Pharmacist-led medication reviews for older care home residents.

Pharmacists are now reviewing the medication of older care home residents.  National guidance states that medication reviews should be person-centred, but what does this mean when applied to care home reviews? In this blog I discuss the experience one pharmacist I interviewed shared around a medication review they conducted and what it might mean to undertake a person-centred review.

Brittany Nocivelli is a PhD student at Cardiff University, School of Medicine, working in the Division of Population Medicine and the Centre for Trials Research groups.

17th October
2022

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Engaging care home residents in research (ENGAGE project)

Brittany Nocivelli is a PhD student at Cardiff University, School of Medicine, working in the Division of Population Medicine and the Centre for Trials Research groups.

I previously graduated from Cardiff University with BSc and MSc degrees in Psychology. One of my research interests is in research inclusivity and my PhD project focuses on identifying the
barriers and facilitators to care home resident research participation, and the development of an intervention to support residents in decision-making and advance planning for research, which I will talk about in this blog.