King's College London

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.