Higher Education partnership to boost care home research in Greater Manchester
A variety of representatives from across Greater Manchester came together to hear how clinical research is making a difference to the lives of care home residents, both now and in the future.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in Greater Manchester organised the seminar to provide the latest updates from its Enabling Research in Care Homes (ENRICH) programme. The well-attended event was hosted by Worthington Lake, a purpose-built, accredited dementia care home in Wigan.
ENRICH was launched by the NIHR as a national initiative in 2011 with the aim of encouraging and supporting researchers to conduct research in care homes and for care home residents, staff and families to engage with the latest care home research.
Social care research in care homes has been taking place in Greater Manchester for several years. For example, studies in the region have included research into palliative care, cognitive stimulation, drug trials and questionnaires on topics such as a person’s transition from home care to residential care.
The seminar, held on 24 September 2019, updated an audience of care home staff, health professionals and research academics about how the NIHR has now launched a collaboration with Greater Manchester’s Higher Education institutions to bring added impact to the ENRICH initiative.
The partnership ensures the region’s university researchers can readily connect with suitable, local care homes to carry out studies with consenting residents and families. By gathering data from residents in care home and other social care settings, their studies seek to answer important questions to improve quality of life for people living in these environments.
“Every member of the public diagnosed with some form of illness, dementia or neurodegenerative disease should have the opportunity to participate in research, irrespective of where they live,” says Angela Aldridge, Clinical Research Operations Manager with NIHR Clinical Research Network, Greater Manchester.
“This partnership between ENRICH, Greater Manchester care homes and the region’s Higher Education Institutions Key Research Leaders will hopefully inspire collaborative social care innovation and increase the amount of essential research being conducted in care home settings.”
Dr Sibylle Thies, Research Fellow in Biomechanics at the University of Salford, was among the speakers at the seminar having recently conducted a study titled “Smart Walkers – improving our understanding of how older people use walking aids”.
Dr Thies was originally unable to find enough participants for her project, but was able to meet her recruitment target and draw valuable conclusions after connecting with ENRICH. She said: “I am extremely grateful for the support the ENRICH team offered me. It has made a massive difference to our current study.”
Dr Mark Hayes, Research Fellow in Communication Disability at Manchester Metropolitan University, was another speaker. He also benefited from collaboration with ENRICH when conducting his study, “Mental Capacity Assessment in Care Homes”. He said: “Thanks again to ENRICH for all your support with recruiting to my recent care homes study. We managed to recruit enough for completed data collection and analysis.”
Professor Neil Pendleton was the closing speaker at the event. Prof Pendelton sits on the ENRICH steering group in his roles as Professor of Medical Gerontology at the University of Manchester and Deputy Director of Manchester Institute for Collaborative Research on Ageing (MICRA).
Praising Worthington Lake as a “progressive example of a care home that should be commended”, Prof Pendleton said: “It’s in the interest of everybody in the population to deliver research in care homes as we live longer lives and the number of people living in these settings continues to grow.
“The ENRICH scheme in Greater Manchester has rapidly grown and is providing excellent opportunities for care homes to be part of research and all the benefits this provides to patients and staff.
“My message to care homes is: carry on engaging with ENRICH because you, as deliverers of care, can shape what we need to understand and address. To the researchers: please remember ENRICH when you are doing research because it will bring invaluable support from within the NIHR infrastructure.”
There are currently more than 70 care homes in Greater Manchester registered with ENRICH, all of which are interested in connecting their home, residents and staff to the latest care home research.
Worthington Lake is an example of a care home engaging with the initiative and exploring opportunities to support the delivery of research studies with its residents.
The owners have already worked with academics at the University of Stirling to develop a new model of care, based on the Household Model, and create an environment that promotes independence, improves wellbeing and empowers residents. The home is on track to achieve a highly commendable Gold Stirling University DSDC audit rating for excellence in dementia design principles.
Omair Haider, Managing Director of Millennium Care which owns Worthington Lake, said: “We want to challenge the status quo of what a care home is and what it means to be a resident in a care home.
“We have developed a model of care focused on psycho-social needs and one which moves away from a traditional care home model where the primary focus is on physical and the medical model of care and with an equally strong focus on psycho-social and emotional wellbeing.
“Our involvement with ENRICH ties in perfectly with this culture. Academic research has shaped my understanding of how to create a care home that specialises in dementia care, so I am excited to learn how we can be part of upcoming research projects which can add to our residents’ wellbeing and support the collection of data.”
