Care home settings
To get you started here is a very helpful toolkit which has been put together to introduce the care home sector, reasons for working with care homes, benefits of care home research, preparing research studies, approaches to care, ethics research governance and consent and practical advice regarding recruiting in a care home.
Exciting evidence from an East of England study on alcohol policy and practice in care homes has led to the development of new guidance for the care industry from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The NIHR funded 'Alcohol use in care homes' study was delivered by the University of Bedfordshire in partnership with the CQC, and has produced 'Good practice guidance for care staff' and 'Guidance for care home residents and the public'.
To learn more about how the West Midlands and how they are building relationships with Care Homes visit the ENRICH West Midlands Care Home Research Network here.
Understanding Research in Care Homes is aimed at people who are new to care home research. This could include staff working in care homes or anyone interested in learning more about research in care homes. The learning objectives of this course include helping you understand the importance of why we need research in care homes, who is involved in the planning and running of research studies and how we can ensure that each research study is conducted in a way that is ethical. You can access this course here on NIHR Learn.
In our short film, Care Home Manager, Laura and others tells us how research happens in care settings and why we need more staff to get involved.
The West Midlands have put together a Understanding Research in Care Homes Training package aimed at Care home staff but its useful for new people to undertake so they can advocate the resource to care homes. Here is a link to this learning.
Case Study Enabling Research In Care Homes (ENRICH) Network .pdfIn this case study here you can read about AFRI-C.
Afri-C is a Randomised Control Trial (RCT), which has been undertaken by researchers at the University of Bristol and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The study aimed to test whether air filters can prevent winter respiratory infections (including COVID-19) in care homes.
This case study covers the motivations and 'pain points' encountered on this study.
The NIHR have written an article about care home research and a helpful article about how to overcome some of the complexities of recruiting in a care home.
To understand more about care homes - the Age UK site introduces who can run a care home and also different types of care homes including nursing homes and dual registered homes.
The UK care homes are one of the main providers of long term care for older people with dementia.
Hear first hand why Jane Borland, Care Manager thinks research is vital in Care Homes;
"When I looked at what research means in simple terms, it came up with ‘Research is defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings.’ If you are not speaking to the people who have the existing knowledge, the same people who live and breath in the area that you want to research, then you are likely to find that any new concepts and methodologies will not effectively improve the outcomes. Research in social care must include our voices; we have a wealth of knowledge and skills that can be utilised and working in partnership will increase the generation of new concepts that will be successful in improving social care. We have a duty to be the best that we can; this means now and in the future. Social care must continuously strive for improvement so that we deliver quality; the people that draw on social care rely on us. This means we must be integral to research. For us at Rathgar Care Home, we take great excitement and pleasure in being involved in research. It is refreshing to know that our voice is desired. We feel honoured to be part of future concepts and understandings, and we are learning along the way. Improvements can be made now which means we are not waiting to hear about it. Some of the staff have contributed to research just by being interviewed by a researcher, others have been part of whole staff group involvement. Sometimes we are asked to complete a survey, which is not so time consuming and often staff are given a small token of appreciation by the researcher for time taken. Why wouldn’t you want to be part of research? It’s exciting to be part of the future. For me, it’s a no-brainer!"
ENRICH has been developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and is a resource supported by the NIHR. The website is maintained by the NIHR School for Social Care Research, and the ENRICH Network is managed by the NIHR Research Network.
Here is video for conducting research in care homes. There are many videos introducing what Enrich is and how research works in care homes on YouTube NIHR tv.
The NIHR website has a case study of The FinCH study and how community settings such as care homes offer unique opportunities to deliver research.
Here you will find case studies by care home staff and researchers and also useful inks.
Top tips for engaging and recruiting in Care Homes
Care homes are complex organisations and they can be busy and unpredictable.
Consider how much you contact them, should this be an email or a phone call - ask how the home you are working with want you to contact them.
it is useful to agree realistic targets and time points with the manager of the care home.
Older people with frailty are more vulnerable to infection and it is not uncommon for care homes to be closed to visitors due to outbreaks.
Be aware of when care homes archive their records as this could affect your collection of data.
Research is your priority but care is always the first priority for the home.
Try to learn about shift patterns and meal times so that you can make sure you attend the home at convenient times for the staff and residents.
You may need to introduce yourself regularly to the staff as there are usually many individuals employed be a care home to cover the 24 hour care and also there may be high turnover.
If you can try to attend meetings and think of ways to keep your research study on the radar within the care home.
The primary care team may know of care homes in your area who may be research active.
“Residents do not live in our workplace, we work in their home.”
It is important that researchers make sure to engage care home staff to enable participation from care home residents who wish to participate.
Capacity and care home research
Capacity can be an issue when engaging and recruiting in care home research. The NIHR have a helpful blog which discusses these issues and offers some helpful guidance for how to succeed in this setting. It is important that we try to offer research to residents, where appropriate to the research protocol, who do not have capacity.
To help you to manage this please complete the NIHR Learn training on Informed Consent: Including Adults Lacking Capacity.
There are also further resources to help support you with consent and adults who lack capacity
HRA Adults Lacking Capacity e-learning toolkit:
https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/learning/e-learning/
Wellbeing and Resilience
Your wellbeing and your resilience is extremely important especially when working in care homes.
Working in care settings is very emotive and can be distressing at times. It’s okay to feel this way – we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t feel upset at times. You will need to seek a network to help you manage any distressing feelings. We recommend looking in to wellbeing and resilience support or if you require further support consider;
Clinical supervision,
talking therapies,
spiritual support,
mindfulness,
meditation.
REMEMBER working is this type of setting is extremely rewarding
There are further resources in the awesome table