The National Institute for Health Research are funding exciting new pre-doctoral opportunities for Local Authority and LA commissioned service based individuals.

Indicative timescales

“The NIHR Doctoral Fellowship funds individuals from a range of health and social care professions to undertake a PhD in an area of NIHR research.

The Fellowship funds:

• full salary support, including protected time to concentrate on research
• PhD fees and research costs
• a bespoke training and development programme to meet individual needs

Applicants from clinical or social care practice are able to include up to 20% clinical time as part of the Fellowship, to ensure the maintenance of their clinical competence whilst undertaking the Fellowship.

Full details of the remit of research funded by the NIHR and eligibility criteria can be found in the guidance notes.”

Click here for more details

• full salary support, including protected time to concentrate on research
• research costs
• a bespoke training and development programme to meet individual needs

The next Home Care Research Forum (HCRF) meeting will take place on Wednesday 25th November 2pm – 3.30pm. This will be a virtual forum using Zoom. 

“The following speakers are presenting at this event: 

• Dr Tushna Vandrevala & Dr Emma O’Dwyer (Kingston University) – Job satisfaction and well-being for live-in carers: Why we need to start thinking about their personal identity
• Alex Thomas and Diana Jablonskyte (Saint Michael’s Hospice) – Hospice at home service

This event is free and open to all, however, booking is essential. If you would like to attend please e-mail laura.cole@kcl.ac.uk  to book a place and receive the Zoom link.”

Please tweet using #hcrf @adalinecole

New findings from a study exploring whether people with an intellectual disability are becoming less eligible for services in the age of austerity show that “Over 40% of people with learning disabilities lost care and support over the past decade as a result of cuts to social care funding.”

Professor Rachel Forrester-Jones and colleagues at the University of Kent, Tizard Centre, analysed the impact of austerity on the lives of people with learning disabilities. The NIHR funded study “highlights ‘significant challenges’ in terms of cuts to services and support which arose for those with learning disabilities since 2008.”

By “mapping the experiences of cuts to services introduced in 2008 for 150 people with learning disabilities the research team found:

• 42% reported they had lost care.
• 14% reported that their care had changed – but not reduced.
• 36% reported their care had stayed the same.
• 7% said their care had improved.

Most significantly, they found that those who had lost care were engaging in significantly fewer activities. These individuals scored lower on the Quality of Life index, which measures individual wellbeing, and had significantly lower self-esteem. Three quarters (74.8%) of the sample also scored highly for having ‘clinically significant’ anxiety.

Overall those who had lost care reported a reduction in daily activities – experienced particularly when day centres closed. They also reported an increased likelihood of feeling lonely or bored as well as a general loss of aspirations for their future.”

To access the full report please click here

The IDEAL programme is led by REACH at the University of Exeter.  It explores people’s experiences of living well with dementia by completing interviews made up of multiple questionnaires with people living with dementia across Great Britain. The IDEAL programme has been running since 2014 and will continue until 31st December 2022.

In response to Covid-19  the IDEAL programme have produced new guidance as part of a major project to support people with dementia and family carers who are facing isolation and reduced services.

‘A new leaflet features five simple tips, developed using the latest robust research and with the input of people affected by dementia. The leaflet is part-funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), in a project led by the University of Exeter and the NIHR Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, with partners including Alzheimer’s Society, Manchester University, Bradford University, Brunel University London and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South-West Peninsula (PenARC).

The leaflet is the first output of an ongoing project to support people living with dementia and their carers through the COVID-19 global health emergency. The project recognises that people with dementia are particularly vulnerable to the psychological and social impacts of isolation and lockdown. The project takes into account the concerns expressed by people with dementia through partner networks such as Alzheimer’s Society, Innovations in Dementia and the DEEP network. They are describing concerns about maintaining supplies of food and medications, anxiety about what would happen if they were admitted to hospital, lack of confidence, feelings of loss and grief, increases in symptoms like agitation, and a more rapid decline in cognitive and functional ability.’

To access the leaflet click here

CRN Connect issue 288 provides COVID-19 quick links and Urgent Public Health Research Studies for COVID-19 amongst. For more details click on  CRN Connect issue 288

The Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, has been been designed in collaboration with the University of Leeds Digital Education Service and Futurelearn.

Learners can complete the course at their own pace.

Learners will discover how research is improving health care; find out what’s involved in health research, bust the common myths surrounding health research and explore ways to get involved. They will hear from people who have taken part in research, learn why they volunteered and the difference it can make.

 John Castledine, Head of Learning and Development at NIHR CRN, said:

 “We are very excited to launch our new online course ‘What is Health Research?’.Everyone should be given both the opportunity to take part in research and to make decisions which are right for them when choosing whether or not to join a study.

“Education is a very powerful tool and the online format of this course ensures everyone can have access to great learning and the insights we have collected from research participants, patients, the public and researchers. Learning about health research has never been easier.”

• ‘What is Health Research?’ starts on Monday 11 November 2019
• Register today: www.futurelearn.com/courses/what-is-health-research