ENRICH West Midlands
Home Care Network
What is the ENRICH West Midlands Home Care Research Network?
The ENRICH West Midlands Home Care Research Network
ENRICH stands for ENabling Research In Care Homes ENRICH is a national network. In the West Midlands, ENRICH is part of your local Clinical Research Network (CRN) - the NIHR CRN West Midlands.
ENRICH has successfully established a national model of engaging care home staff, residents, their families, and researchers in the collaborative setup and running of research studies in care homes for over a decade. We are currently extending our ENRICH approach for home care service providers
What is the Clinical Research Network?
The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) supports patients, the public and health and care organisations across England to participate in high-quality research, thereby advancing knowledge and improving care.
We are part of the NIHR (National Institute of Health and Care Research) which has been supporting research delivery in primary, community and hospital settings across our region since 2006 and more recently, expanding its support into wider care settings, such as care homes and local authorities. Last year almost 1.4 million people in England participated in NIHR studies.
We are funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and work in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, care homes, other research funders, participants and the public.
The aims of the ENRICH Network in the West Midlands
The ENRICH Network aims to improve the health and well-being of people living in Care homes or receiving Home Care and staff by building new knowledge, bridging gaps in research, applying knowledge to practice, supporting staff development and sharing learning across the Network.
We are currently extending our ENRICH approach and we are seeking expressions of interest from forward-thinking home care service providers to sign up and become a member of the ENRICH Network and in turn, hear more about opportunities for participation in high-quality, innovative research studies of relevance to home care service providers, their teams, home care service users and their family members.
Taking part in high-quality research can improve health and well-being by building new knowledge, bridging gaps in research, and in applying knowledge to practice and will not only help your home care service to contribute to shaping the health of the nation but also will give your service the chance to take advantage of new treatments or resources that are not yet available to the general population. The research studies we share with you will have ethical approval.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the important role of home care within our society and how this service is paramount in supporting the health and wellbeing of individuals living in our communities with health and social care needs. We hope through the implementation, exploration, and support of research to further the advancement of the social care sector and in working together, influence, be part of, and explore together health and care research.
How can we support your home care service?
Inform you of opportunities to take part in high-quality research with no obligation to take part
Assist with the setup and delivery of a research study - most studies will require minimal resources from the home care service
Advise on consent procedures
Provide access to funding to reimburse staff time and involvement in research
Help with decision-making about whether a study is right for your home care service
Advise on how research can work around your schedule
Continued support throughout the study including conversations and communication between you and the study team
Provide access to free research training
Invitations to events about local research opportunities and the latest findings that might impact on your work
Benefits of taking part in home care research
Benefits of research:
Enables home care service providers to learn of new developments, which can contribute to delivery of improvements in the home care organisation’s business and marketing plans
Helps demonstrate to the public that the home care sector is actively focused on good care and improving delivery
Provides an effective voice for service users, families and staff whose views may have been previously unheard
For home care service users:
Directly and indirectly enhances the quality of life for home care service users
Provides additional stimulation as home care service users take part in a new activity or have someone new to talk to
Gives control back to home care service users, allowing them to feel like they are contributing to their future and the next generation
For home care staff:
Additional training, and support, discuss new practices, learn new skills, and network with other home care organisations. These are busy environments and so the level of involvement needs to be managed to suit the individual circumstances of the organisation
Increased job satisfaction and well-being for staff; creating an atmosphere that encourages excellence and improvement
Provides your service with the latest information on science and technology advances
Our offer to Home Care Services
We want home care staff and service users to feel like active members who shape our network. In recognition of the valuable role home care services play in managing the needs of those living in their own home and the unique skills, systems and challenges this brings, we aim to work in partnership with home care service providers, home care managers, staff, service users and family members to achieve an inclusive research network.
Individuals being cared for in home care settings may benefit from research findings and may also benefit from participation in research. Research helps find answers to the things that are unknown, filling gaps in knowledge and changing the ways that people work in turn bringing about improvements in treatment, care and the quality of life of those receiving home care. Insights gained from research could also help to allay any possible family concerns about the quality of care being offered to their loved one.
Opportunities for staff and residents to input into study research design
Identifying the key areas of need, we will work with stakeholders including managers, residents and family members to develop relevant research studies to inform change.
We will also promote opportunities for participation in local and national studies.
Attend meetings to hear about research and areas of interest for home care organisations
CRN WM staff can attend either in person or remotely to deliver presentations and webinars around particular areas of interest.
Find out about studies
When joining the West Midlands ENRICH Network you will receive our monthly studies bulletin, alongside regular updates from your research facilitator about studies that may benefit your home care organisation.
Share research findings to inform evidence base and contribute to policy and practice
We will ensure the dissemination of all findings of the research you have assisted with. This will include publications and recommendations for policy change.
Remuneration
Support Cost
If there are any additional costs related to undertaking research, these will come directly from the study team and are called research costs (research activity is almost always undertaken directly by the research team).
When we circulate research opportunities each study will clearly state the total remuneration for organisations.
Join the ENRICH West Midlands Network
By signing up you are not committing to anything, we will keep you updated on:
New studies
Resources and research results
Training and opportunities for staff
or for more information email us at enrichteamwm@nihr.ac.uk