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At the MBCHF on 20 March, presenters Linda Birt, Fawn Harrad-Hyde and Cat Forward discussed their care home related research projects. The 31 attendees were affiliated to different care providers, care homes, and universities.
The ongoing study of Linda Birt looks at the influenza vaccination uptake rate for all staff in care homes. Linda shared the rationale behind the study, how it was conducted and why certain tools and evaluations were chosen and some of the findings around the vaccination clinics. Some barriers to vaccination uptake were discussed, as were future research plans.
Fawn shared findings that derived from a completed study that looked at whether or not peer-mentors could support families of care home residents to prepare for future deterioration and end-of-life. In this study, a lot of families shared their struggles and experiences throughout the care journey for a relative. The presentation gave an overview of some of the continuity and changes families supporting an older person with cognitive impairment experience during the care trajectory.
Being part of the FinCH Imp Study team, Cat shared findings on falls prevention in care homes. The FinCH trial had successful findings, reducing falls by 43%. This is not only leading to better wellbeing for residents, but also saving costs. Cat further shared early findings from the implementation of the FinCH trial programme which demonstrated that further fine-tuning is needed, but already had positive outcomes.
From all three presentations, it was clear that knowing residents and staff is beneficial to the best rollout of (new) interventions or ideas. The next MBCHF will be on the 19 June, from 2.00p-4.00pm: we will soon share more details about the speakers and how to sign up.
This event report by Olivia Luijnenburg.
- This webinar was part of the Margaret Butterworth Care Home Forum, from the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce.
- See all upcoming events from the Policy Research Unit.
In the first Margaret Butterworth Care Home Forum (MBCHF) of 2024, on Wednesday 20 March from 2.00pm-4.00pm, we will hear from three speakers that cover care home topics around flu vaccination rates amongst care home staff, the work families undertake during care journeys, and falls prevention:
Dr Linda Birt is an Associate Professor in the School of Healthcare at University of Leicester and she will present on the FluCare study. The study is a randomised controlled trial which draws on theory informed behaviour change interventions with the aim of increasing flu vaccination rates for all staff in care homes. Linda will briefly outline the rationale for the research, the behavioural change techniques and then report on the embedded process evaluation, contextualising the importance of vaccination clinics and illustrating post COVID-19 attitudes towards vaccinations.
Dr Fawn Harrad-Hyde is a research associate at LOROS Centre for Excellence and University of Leicester. She will talk about the work that families undertake whilst supporting someone at various stages of the care journey (including whilst the person is at home, looking for a care home, in the care home and during deterioration and end-of-life). The findings Fawn will present were collected as part of a study which looked at whether or not peer-mentors could support families of care home residents to prepare for future deterioration and end-of-life. During the study, people told their stories about caring for their relative, which often required a substantial amount of effort and work from family members. Fawn will discuss the ways the caring journey changed over time but also some threads that were continuous throughout.
Dr Cat Forward is an Occupational Therapist and a researcher in the HSCWRU at Kings College London. She will be talking about the FinCH Imp Study - Falls Prevention in Care Homes. Falls are common, harmful, costly, and difficult to prevent. The Guide to Action for Falls Prevention Care Homes (GtACH) programme trains and supports care home staff to identify the reasons why residents fall and then guides them to complete actions to reduce falls. In a large multicentre randomised controlled trial called the FinCH trial (1), the GtACH programme was cost-effective and reduced falls by 43%. The FinCH Imp Study evaluated the implementation of this programme in practice and Cat will talk about the project, including the intervention itself and some early findings.
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Research Associate
Senior Research Fellow
Research Associate