Nurturing Innovation in Care Homes in Leeds (NICHE-Leeds) is a partnership which aims to enhance the lives of people living or working in (or visiting) care homes (https://niche.leeds.ac.uk/). Commencing in 2018, it is a partnership between the University of Leeds, Westward Care, Springfield Healthcare, Leeds Care Association, and Leeds City Council. NICHE-Leeds replicates a model first developed in the Netherlands (https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/news/living-lab-ageing-and-long-term-care-unique-selling-point-um). At the heart of NICHE-Leeds is a belief that all people in care homes should experience quality of care and quality of life. This is challenging but can be addressed through partnership and collaborative working which brings together care providers, scientists and importantly residents and their family and friends. Together questions can be asked, and sustainable solutions offered.

This blog describes the new role of “Researcher in Residence” created for Hallmark Care Homes. It was inspired by the successful CHARM research which showed that embedding academic researchers in care homes, working alongside staff and residents to develop their own ideas and projects could help improve research participation and outcomes.

In this blog Suzy will introduce the Tell Me More engagement project. This project was funded by Welsh Government and aimed to gather insights into the lived experience of care home residents during the Covid-19.

This blog post discusses the important issue of quality of life at work for the social care workforce. It draws on an NIHR study to begin developing a scale of work-related quality of life for adult social care staff and refers to a Sector Guide, co-produced with members of the public with lived-experience of adult social care and representatives of the social care sector.

In this guest blog Megha provides us with an update on her previous blog which introduced her care home PhD study.

For my PhD, I’ve focused my research on a very special area within palliative and end of life care – anticipatory prescribing (AP) in care homes. After interviewing more than forty UK-based professionals in health and social care, I’m now writing a few chapters for my dissertation ​chronicling the burdens they experience during the AP process, the bureaucracy and networks inherent to AP, the language that professionals deploy in describing AP to one another (and how that differs when talking to residents and their families), and decision-making at the point of prescribing and administration (as well as the risks that accompany both processes). It has been a wondrous, challenging experience, learning from and writing about the people who not only work in the spaces that so many prefer to not think about, but who go so far beyond the call of duty to see them and their residents improve. I hope that this research can contribute to our understanding of the issues affecting care homes and build an evidence-based foundation upon which policymakers can create solutions.

This blogpost discusses some of the difficulties experienced by care home residents with hearing loss and dementia and the importance of an individualised, flexible approach. This work is drawn from studies conducted as part of Hannah’s PhD, but is also influenced by experiences when caring for residents with dementia and hearing loss.

In this guest blog Candace Imison, from the NIHR Centre for Engagement and Dissemination, speaks about a recently published collection that brings together NIHR-funded research in care homes and asks how this research could be used to improve the quality of care.

This study explored the experiences of informal carers (family and friends) of staying in touch with care home residents (older people, people with dementia, people with learning disabilities and/or autism, and disabled people), during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aimed to identify what worked well, as well as difficulties and challenges, and to learn lessons for the future, and for other situations when informal carers might experience difficulties in visiting frequently.

Health and Social care practitioner Louise Marsh looks at the ENRICH Enabling Research In Care Homes model and suggests that this could provide guidance and inspiration for a potential multi – Clinical Research Network CRN working party looking at establishing a similar research platform for home care providers.

Louise asks the following questions:

1. How does Social Care research translate in both care home and home care forums?
2. What are the challenges in embracing Social Care research?
3. What might it take to authentically, broaden both Health and Social Care research through these sectors?

I started my career in care at the age of 16 as a care assistant.  I began working for Brendoncare at the age of 18.  As an organisation they have supported me to work in various different settings such as nursing care, dementia care, residential and domiciliary care. They have encouraged me to progress in my career, securing my current role as a General Manager (I am 30). I am now studying for a level 7 Master’s degree and recently took part in a research project developing a training programme for care home staff. I am a passionate advocate for elderly care with a strong focus on end-of-life care.

In this blog I will provide a brief insight into what working in care is like for me and my experience of taking part in a research project.