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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.

Julie Watson, Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia at the University of Edinburgh

21st November
2016

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Sharing research findings – from the care home to the corridors of power

Julie Watson, Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia at the University of Edinburgh

When a researcher leaves a care home after gathering the information they need, this may be the end of the research for the staff and residents, but it is just the beginning of the next stage of the process for the researcher – analysing and sharing their findings.

Danielle Wilson, Interim Clinical Research Domain Lead, Cognitive Impairment and Dementia, Clinical Trials Facility Manager – West London Mental Health Trust

19th September
2016

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Giving care homes the opportunity to be involved in research

Danielle Wilson, Interim Clinical Research Domain Lead, Cognitive Impairment and Dementia, Clinical Trials Facility Manager – West London Mental Health Trust

I first dipped my toe into the world of research almost 10 years ago when conducting a randomised control trial investigating infection control in care homes. We were specifically looking at MRSA infection rates in care homes, when MRSA was an extremely hot topic in the media.

Wendy Mitchell, Join Dementia Research Champion

29th July
2016

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The importance of research into Care Homes

Wendy Mitchell, Join Dementia Research Champion

When people think of research they often think of clinical trials and scientists in white coats in laboratories, but social and technological research is equally important. Research into the best ways to care for people is paramount as current standards often fall short of the ideal. This is often due to, in the past, low pay and low public esteem as to the work that goes on in care homes.

Professor Steve Iliffe, Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London

25th June
2016

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End of life care for people with dementia

Professor Steve Iliffe, Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London

There has been an increase in research of dementia end-of-life care in recent years, in this blog Professor Iliffe looks at the progress being made.

Claire Surr, Professor of Dementia Studies, Leeds Beckett University

25th May
2016

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Care Homes research – a recipe for success?

Claire Surr, Professor of Dementia Studies, Leeds Beckett University

We have all heard the old adages ‘Never work with children or animals’ or ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ and I think that sometimes research in care homes and with people with dementia are often perceived similarly by fellow academics; just too difficult to do and only undertaken by the foolhardy.

Phil Tinkler

26th April
2016

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Changed perspective

Phil Tinkler

Working in care home research for the past five years has meant visiting a lot of homes. 

Sandra Prew

21st March
2016

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Care home research of the West Midlands

Sandra Prew

I have been working on ENRICH since November 2014 – the ENRICH Project was launched nationally in 2012 but the initiative was not taken up in the West Midlands until late 2014, when we had 1 care home signed up and little research activity. CRN West Midlands is the second largest Network with a population of 5.7 million (the size of Denmark), and houses over 800 care homes.

Professor Jill Manthorpe

3rd March
2016

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How do handovers happen?

Professor Jill Manthorpe

Many studies have considered handovers between shifts in hospital settings, but handovers have yet to be explored in care homes. 

Diane Bunn, University of East Anglia

17th February
2016

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Thinking about Drinking

Diane Bunn, University of East Anglia

‘Thinking about Drinking’ has been at the forefront of my mind for nearly four years now, but it emerged as the title of my study much more recently, when I was trying to think of something that would describe what I was trying to do. 

Bernadette Mossman

27th January
2016

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Passion to improve care standards

Bernadette Mossman

Bernadette Mossman is Healthcare Director and Registered Manager for Vida Healthcare a 70 bed specialist dementia care home, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire rated as excellent by the CQC. In this blog Bernadette expalins what drove her to become involved in research.