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East of England NHS nurse invites care home managers to join important research network

Kathryn Howlett, an NHS research nurse, recently joined the expanding team driving the ENRICH (Enabling Research in Care Homes) network initiative for the East of England’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

ENRICH, which helps care homes to get involved in health and social care research, has already seen steady growth in other regions and is now being offered to managers in Suffolk. Kathryn, who previously worked as a care home nurse, is thrilled to be able to invite teams to join ENRICH:

“It’s so nice to make a difference in care homes. I know how much it would have excited me if a researcher had visited our care home to offer us the chance to get involved in research, so I want all staff to have that opportunity.

“Most of the people in care homes have long-term conditions, so it’s really important that they have the chance to give their perspective on the research that affects them.”

ENRICH provides a toolkit of resources and a support team, including nurses like Kathryn, to help set up and run studies in care homes. Studies range from testing medications which are not necessarily widely available to simple questionnaires and surveys, but they ultimately aim to find new ways to care for residents.

Joining also gives staff, residents and their carers a voice in shaping and improving research, and it could even help teams collaborate with other ENRICH care homes in the area.

You and your care home could help forge the way for research to happen now and in the future, so for information about how to join the ENRICH network visit enrich.nihr.ac.uk.

Alternatively, if you’d like to have a friendly, informal chat about it with Kathryn or her teammate, Lisa, just get in touch:

Kathryn Howlett: e. kathryn.howlett@nihr.ac.uk t. 07775 018002

Lisa Farrell: e. lisa.farrell@nihr.ac.uk t. 07840 856954