Supporting community research in the South West
Rena Truscott is a Senior Research Practitioner and her background is as an Occupational Therapist specialising in neurological rehabilitation. Her career in research showcases the growth in research studies being delivered in the community, providing an alternative way for patients and health care professionals to access research. She works in the community for Livewell Southwest a provider of integrated health and social care services in Plymouth and the surrounding areas.
Rena’s big passion is for clinicians to have the opportunity to get involved in research alongside their clinical role so that a research culture is developed and patients and all services benefit. As she says: “It’s important to have working clinicians in research delivery, it opens up opportunities. Some clinicians are scared to leave their clinical role but it gives a boost to both sides and there are varying levels of research involvement, several therapists I work with do one day a week of research.”
This balanced approach takes advantage of her clinical grounding and training gives her confidence when interacting with patients. Rena continues:
“You use your clinical skills in research all the time. OTs are problem solvers and assessment is such an important skill. When we are on the wards we are seen as part of the team and that makes you comfortable and confident. You can see and give examples of when patients have been involved and benefitted from research so you can communicate the benefits.”
A need for a change in her career direction and a want to contribute to the ‘bigger picture’ motivated Rena to consider a path in research. She had always found the analytical research skills an interesting part of her study and wanted to further these. A supportive Professor was a useful guide to introduce her to the world of research studies.
The first study that Rena got involved with was a European commercial study and it entailed two days training in Vienna. From there she “caught the [research] bug.” As she got more involved in research her awareness of positions, studies and the support available increased. These initial steps lead to involvement in two more year-long studies and further work secondments that progressed her exciting career path in research.
Rena has received support from the NIHR including the funding of her and her Administrative Assistants post. The support offered by the NIHR covers more than that as Rena explains.
“The unique feature of the support from the NIHR is the nature of its network structure. We are such a small team but I feel I am supported by being connected locally, regionally and nationally with fellow colleagues so I am able to always find someone who knows how to do something or who to speak to someone who does. Being part of regular topic specific webinars and meetings, e.g. Mental Health, Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, etc. keeps me in the loop about current and potential studies and again to link up if any specific issues and to pick up tips.”
NIHR Link workers and Research Delivery Managers help with practical and strategic level issues. These roles enable two-way communication to ensure that operational delivery is maintained and reporting to ‘Higher Level Objectives’ are communicated. An example is I reported that Livewell South West had been unable to participate in several mental health studies as we did not have the capacity and this precipitated the post of a Mental Health Research Nurse in the Clinical Support Team who is now supporting Livewell Southwest with studies, such as RADAR.
The NIHR has offered several opportunities to get trained up in many different areas, study-specific and more general. I have been fortunate to complete the NIHR Advanced Leadership Programme this year and this has substantially widened my network connections across the country to learn and share good practice with other community settings.”
Rena’s message to anyone considering getting involved in research is a simple one:
“We need to learn from you, you are the expert. We need to know your experiences and we can’t do it without out you, you are the most important bit!”
…and to anyone working in health and social care and considering a role in research:
“Research gives you the opportunity to use your clinical skills in a way which is contributing to the bigger and potentially global picture to improve healthcare. It is an exciting and ever changing environment with the focus on continually learning and changing clinical practice for the best. Patients are keen to be involved as they can contribute something and they say it makes them feel valued and gives them a sense of hope for the future. It’s a privilege to work in research.
Find out more about a career in research:
To explore your path in research and to hear more stories of how a career in research can take many forms visit: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/yourpathinresearch
