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Our partners At NIHR ARC Wessex we are a collaboration of organisations working together to carry out the most relevant and best quality health and care research with real-life impact. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) Dorset Integrated Care System (Our Dorset) NHS Dorset Integrated Care System (ICS) Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) NHS Trusts Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Isle of Wight NHS Trust Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Universities Bournemouth University University of Portsmouth University of Southampton University of Winchester Research partners Health Innovation Wessex (formerly Wessex Academic Health Sciences Network)

Talia Emmanuel is a PhD candidate in the Health Workforce & Systems research group at the University of Southampton. < Back What do nurses want? Improving nurses’ shift patterns - where do we start? Talia Emmanuel is a PhD candidate in the Health Workforce & Systems research group at the University of Southampton. Talia Emmanuel is a PhD candidate in the Health Workforce & Systems research group at the University of Southampton. In this blog, she summarises some key results from her recent research paper that explored nurses’ views and values around their shift patterns and working time. Talia Emmanuel -University of Southampton. As a PhD student, one must be well-prepared to answer the question…“What is your research about?”. I typically answer with “I’m trying to find ways of improving shift patterns for nurses when they’re working in hospital”. Enthusiastic nods usually follow, along with a quippy reply: “Wow, that sounds important and complicated ”. Although simply put, “important and complicated” neatly summarises the nuances of this topic. We recognise the significance of improving nurses’ working conditions in the context of persistent health workforce shortages, both nationally and internationally. However, we also realise that singular cure-all solutions are non-existent – there are too many factors at play. So, where do we start? Some of those complicating factors centre around how nurses’ working hours are organised. In hospitals, nurses often have to work in shifts that cover different periods of the 24-hour day. Previous research has identified various repercussions of working shifts (and in particular, working long shifts of 12-hours or more and night shifts): increased burnout , poor work-life balance , and risk of chronic illness and cancer on the long-term. Impacts to nurses’ performance and safety while at work have also been flagged, which pose knock-on effects on the quality of care patients ultimately receive. Despite these risks, shift work is a necessary reality for many nurses working in hospitals. Therefore, administrators and managers are tasked with organising nurses’ shifts into rotas that balance staff wellbeing with service demands and operational costs - and this is no easy feat. Further complications come from recent increased pressure on NHS employers to offer staff more say over their working patterns as a way of improving job satisfaction and their experiences of work. But this raises the question: What do nurses want? More specifically, what shift patterns do they prefer, and why? While there is some existing literature on this (an excellent summary can be found here ), our understanding of the factors that lead nurses to prefer certain shift patterns needs more work. As part of my doctoral research, I was eager to do a deep-dive into this area: I know that in order to find ways to improve nurses’ shift patterns, it is crucial to ask nurses themselves about their views and values around the organisation of their working hours. Fortunately, I had access to a rich data source around this topic: a recent survey study funded by the NIHR ARC Wessex that collected responses from nurses working across the UK and Ireland. My supervisors and I were particularly interested in nurses’ responses when asked: “ If you could choose your shift patterns, what would be the most important factor in that choice?” While we expected nurses to describe many diverse factors/preferences, we were hopeful of commonalities too. Nearly 800 nurses provided their open-ended responses to this question. We analysed all of them and developed 3 overarching themes: Theme 1, “When I want to work ”: Nurses shared many preferences for when they wanted to work, and equally, how they wanted their rest days to be arranged. Even though individual preferences differed, three general scheduling practices were also repeatedly mentioned as helpful: working less ‘harmful’ shift patterns from the start, working more consistent/predictable patterns, and having more flexibility and control over when to work. “Not working consecutive shifts so that I am exhausted by the time I get a day off.” “Know what I am doing each week, either set days or set nights, so I can predict what I am working…” “Having the freedom to give myself more days to recover between weekly shifts.” Theme 2, “Impacts to my life outside work” : Many factors emerged from nurses wanting shift patterns that enable a good work-life balance and minimise disruption to their lives outside work. Their preferences and priorities related to wanting quality recreational time with family and friends, to be able to arrange childcare easily and inexpensively, and having enough rest/recovery time to protect their own wellbeing. “Quality time with my children and family without being permanently drained, exhausted, and sad” “That the pattern could stay the same each week so it would be easier for childcare needs. Many nurseries like set days and when our rota is changing from week to week this can be difficult.” “…Not mixing days and nights in a week […] this does not observe HSE best practice guidelines and messes with the body clock and sleep patterns. It should not be allowed to happen.” Theme 3, “Improving my work environment” : Some nurses mentioned job-specific factors that influenced their choices, like wanting to work the shift patterns they believed to be best for patient care, or, working the best configuration of shifts for optimal take-home pay. But other concepts, like having sufficient staffing numbers and being able to take breaks, were also stressed. “A shift where I feel I have accomplished the care I have wanted to give for my patients” “To not have so much pressure on the shift, with the right amount of staff on and to take my break when needed”. When thinking back to the question “What shift patterns do nurses prefer, and why?”, these themes provide several helpful clues. They also highlight that while there is variation in nurses’ specific shift preferences, there are also more general scheduling practices that also support their priorities. For my research, this finding is particularly striking, as it moves away from the oft-assumption that there are “countless individual preferences that are difficult to accommodate” and toward the idea that there are more universal preferences too. Moreover, when these universal preferences are used during the scheduling process, nurses’ shift patterns can be improved overall. That sounds like a good starting point! Read our full analysis of nurses’ survey responses in the open-access research paper here Follow Talia: Twitter/X | ResearchGate Follow the UoS Health Workforce & Systems team: Twitter/X | UoS website Previous Next

Training & Development At the ARC Wessex Academy we provide training opportunities and access to career development as part of our 5 years of research funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). There is an opportunity to become an ARC Wessex Member which allows you access to funding, research tools, support and expertise. We value our Faculty Members because they bring the skills and support we need as a research collaboration, and expand the capacity for research in Wessex. You can learn more about becoming a Member here . Explore the NIHR Academy What is a clinical academic career #1 Play Video Forming your team #2 Play Video Finding a Mentor #3 Play Video What Makes a Good Application #4 Play Video Developing your training plans #5 Play Video Public and patient involvement #6 Play Video The Interview #7 Play Video Intellectual Property and Enterprise #8 Play Video A guide to starting out in clinical academic research Watch Now Share Whole Channel This Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Share Channel Info Close Fellowships & internships Read more Meet our interns, PhD, and Post-Docs Read more Case Studies Read more ARC qualitative network Read more

74e67d37-7f00-423e-b571-0f47e11e3dca ADOPTED: Investigating the impact of food vouchers on diet composition and the prevention of childhood obesity Principal Investigator: Grace Grove Start Date: 10 May 2021 End Date: 9 May 2023 Background: Childhood obesity is increasing in the UK, and children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to live with obesity. Obesity in childhood is linked to obesity in adulthood and poor health outcomes. It is therefore vital that we work to prevent and reduce inequalities in childhood obesity. We know that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have poor diets, and children who have poor diets are more likely to be obese. Therefore, improving diet quality of young families may contribute to preventing the development of childhood obesity. Healthy Start is a scheme in England that aims to improve diet quality by providing vouchers to spend on milk, fruit and vegetables to disadvantaged families. However, the voucher value is modest and has not changed for a decade, despite increasing food prices. The scheme needs assessing to consider how it can best support families, as uptake among eligible families is very low, at 54% nationally. Health visitors support young families, and give extra support to those with increased needs, including those from deprived groups. This provides a unique opportunity to support young families who are at risk of childhood obesity and eligible for Healthy Start. The aim of this research is to understand if voucher schemes can have a positive effect on diet quality of disadvantaged families. This research will contain several elements, including reviewing the literature for evidence on the effectiveness of voucher schemes, speaking to families and health visitors, collecting diet and shopping information from families, and modelling the best approach to a modified Healthy Start scheme. Publications Systematic review of fruit and vegetable voucher interventions for pregnant women and families with young children | Public Health Nutrition | Cambridge Core

Adolescent Resilience to OVercome Adversity: EmpoweRment and intervention development – the ROVER study Lead applicant: Anne-Sophie Darlington Co-applicants : Professor Graham Roberts , Professor Mary Barker , Dr Ivo Vassilev University of Southampton, Dr Catherine Hill Associate Professor in Child Health at the University of Southampton, Dr Jana Kreppner Associate Professor in Developmental Psychopathology within Psychology at the University of Southampton , Dr Luise Marino , Abigail Oakley Project Summary: Mental health conditions and symptoms in children and young people are increasing. Children and young people (CYP) with a chronic physical health condition often report having mental health problems such as feelings of anxiety and depression. A lot of research has focused on risk – circumstances that make it more likely for young people to experience mental health problems. In this project we want to focus on resilience - the young person’s ability to use their strengths and support from family and friends to overcome challenges in their life. Resilience has not often been a focus of support programmes for CYP with a physical condition. We would like to find out what experiences are common for young people living with physical health conditions, so that we can develop a support programme that applies across Child Health. We will use knowledge from these shared experiences to co-create the support programme with young people – called ‘tools for life’ (suggestion by CYP). We will also partner with national charities (partnerships have already been developed) who have worked with us before and who are very interested in supporting CYP around their mental health. The charity partners could help us to develop support components that are very specific to the condition (for example, fear of cancer coming back), which can be included in the overall support programme. Finally, work with young people has taught us that flexibility is very important: flexibility in when they access support, the way they access it and how it is offered to them. We will work together with young to shape this flexibility in support. The project will have four parts: Part 1 – Finding out what might work: List successful support components from 15 existing summaries of the evidence (reviews of the literature) to date and a report from Wellcome (an independent global charitable foundation which focuses on research), and identify the support elements (e.g., building confidence) which work well, and are acceptable to young people. Part 2 – Developing partnerships: Develop a partnership with local stakeholders (e.g., Paul Hughes and Laura Renishaw-Villier – Hub stakeholders; SolentMind, No Limits) and national charities (e.g., Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group, Kidney Care UK, Asthma UK). who can support the development of the support programme, both the general as disease-specific elements. We will hold several workshops with stakeholders to develop the partnership and agree on the goals of the partnership and ways to work together. Part 3 – Developing the support programme: We will co-create (develop together with young people) the support programme– ‘tools for life’ - to increase resilience. We will focus on flexibility in the way the programme is offered to young people, and when young people access the programme, to suit their needs. This flexibility will make young people more likely to use the programme. Part 4: Testing the support programme: We will test the support programme with 30 young people, to find out how many young people use the programme, if the programme is acceptable, how they use the programme, and how much they use the programme. We will also find out what the most important indicators of success are for the programme, such as young people experiencing less symptoms of anxiety and depression, and a better quality of life. Read all Mental Health Hub projects

3a154492-5625-4fba-82b5-37d30dbaccaa COMPLETED: Creating Learning Environments for Compassionate Care (CLECC) in mental health settings: an implementation study This project has been completed and had created the CLECC toolkit which you can see here Principal Investigator: Dr Michelle Myall Team members : Dr Michelle Myall (Senior Research and Implementation Fellow, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton), Dr Sarah Williams (Associate Director for Research and Improvement, Solent NHS Trust) Professor Jackie Bridges (Professor of Older People's Care, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton), Dr Jane Frankland (Senior Research Fellow, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton), Cindy Brooks (Research Fellow, ARC Implementation team). Started: 1 October 2020 Ended : 30 September 2022 Project partners : Solent NHS Trust, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Improvement, Wessex AHSN, Centre for Implementation Science, University of Southampton. Co-funded by : NHS Improvement Lay summary Background There is some public concern about NHS hospital nurses’ capacity to provide compassionate care, but very little research about how to improve this situation. We have developed and piloted a programme called Creating Learning Environments for Compassionate Care (CLECC). In CLECC, all registered nurses and health care assistants from participating wards attend a study day, with a focus on team building and understanding patient experiences. A nurse educator (who is not usually part of the ward team) supports the team to try new ways of working on the ward, including regular supportive discussions on improving care. Ward managers attend learning groups to develop their leadership role. Volunteer team members receive training in observations of care and feeding back information to colleagues. In an earlier study, we piloted CLECC on four wards in two NHS hospitals, with two other wards continuing with business as usual. We found that CLECC could be put into practice on NHS hospital wards and that staff felt it improved their capacity to be compassionate. However, we found variations between the four nursing teams and two hospitals, in whether or not, staff felt able to take part in CLECC and to carry on with CLECC after the nurse educator left. We followed up the wards two years later and found that some wards had carried on using CLECC and shared the ideas with other teams. But some wards had stopped using CLECC and we found that this was influenced by amongst other factors: staffing levels, work priorities, staff turnover and managers’ support. The research findings to date suggest that each team differed in the ways they used and responded to the CLECC ideas. If we want programmes like CLECC to make a difference to patient care, we need more research to test it out in other settings. This will help us to better understand the conditions in which CLECC is most likely to make a positive difference and about how these conditions can be developed, supported and maintained. Aims of study This study will follow up to four nursing teams in mental health hospital settings who are using CLECC for the first time. We will use questionnaires, staff interviews and documentary evidence to gather data on the characteristics of organisations and teams, and the factors that influence CLECC’s progress in the first few months. We will look carefully at these data, working out the connections between the characteristics, the influencing factors and what happens when CLECC is used. We will develop a theory about how different organisational conditions affect the journey of programmes like CLECC. We will also use the study to test the best way to measure the impact of CLECC on staff well-being. How will findings be used? This research will help us understand what changes might be needed to get organisations ready for using CLECC. It will also mean we can identify in advance teams who are likely to benefit from CLECC, improving its value for money. We will use the findings to develop a guide for hospital managers to assess and improve their organisations and teams for their receptiveness to quality improvement activities like CLECC. We will share our findings with a wide range of people including patients and families, NHS managers, health and social care staff and other researchers.

Web-based Implementation Toolkit (WIT) Quick links: Project Outputs Buy-in and Engagement Fit with Health and Social Care Systems Alignment with Health and Social Care Priorities Outcomes and Impact Adoption and Spread Checklist, webinar and resources Quick links: Project Outputs This Web-based Implementation Toolkit (WIT) is designed to be easy to use and intended for a variety of users, projects and settings where implementation is planned or being considered. Implementation is the attempt to introduce a new intervention, innovation or policy developed through research and apply it to health and/or social care and the third sector. WIT provides you with an interactive Implementation Wheel, Checklist and bite-size Webinars (average 10 minutes) to support you through your implementation journey. Who is WIT for? WIT recognises the need to provide freely available, accessible and simple to use tools that focus on key considerations at the outset of a project. WIT was co-produced through interactive workshops with health and social care professionals, third sector organisation professionals, academics and members of the public. Anyone looking to understand more about or engage in implementation. Why use WIT? When to use WIT From the beginning – when first considering and designing a project Throughout all stages of your implementation journey and beyond To guide you through implementation considerations for your project There are six wheel domains to help you consider what is required for implementation. Click on a domain segment to find out more. Adoption and Spread Project Outputs Buy-in and Engagement Fit with Health and Social Care Systems Alignment with Health and Social Care Priorities Outcomes and Impact How to use WIT Use the interactive Implementation Wheel, Checklist and bitesize Webinars to support you on your implementation journey and beyond. The six Wheel domains can be used iteratively, and in no particular order. The Checklist is downloadable and consists of the same domains as the Wheel. You can use this to complete with your team and check progress of your implementation journey. The Webinars , approximately 10 minutes duration, provide sessions relating to the six Wheel and Checklist domains and also to an introduction to implementation and implementation theories and frameworks. Hover on keywords to see definitions Other words in bold represent key learning points The Resources section provides suggestions for other resources you may find helpful. implementation Implementation is the attempt to introduce a new intervention, innovation or policy developed through research and apply it to health and/or social care and the third sector. Feedback via our short survey If you fulfil the criteria on the attached poster , Researchers from the School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton/NIHR ARC Wessex would like you to test WIT by providing feedback via a short survey . Or alternatively scan the QR code. Thank you. Contact us If you have any questions about WIT, please contact: C.F.Brooks@soton.ac.uk Disclaimer The development of WIT has been supported by the NHS Insight Prioritisation Programme (NIPP). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of this website. How to cite Brooks, C.F., Lund, S., Kryl, D., and Myall M. (2023) Web-based Implementation Toolkit (WIT). University of Southampton. Available at: www.arc-wx.nihr.ac.uk/web-implementation-toolkit Accessibility We are committed to providing a website that is accessible to as many people as possible. We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of the website.

Courses and resources Seminar, courses and w orkshops Read more Resou rces for finding a mentor Read more Information on organisations that can help with your research application Read more Home > About us A guide to starting out in clinical academic research A guide to starting out in clinical academic research Play Video Share Whole Channel This Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Search videos Search video... Now Playing What is a clinical academic career #1 07:42 Play Video Now Playing Forming your team #2 05:17 Play Video Now Playing Finding a Mentor #3 04:10 Play Video Seminar, courses and workshops Seminars Senior Statistician - Dr David Culliford chairs a workshop explaining what tools and methods can be useful in statistical analysis in research Short courses Details of our short courses coming soon... Seminar Resources for finding a mentor As part of our support for anyone wanting to become a Clinical Academic we have gathered some information that can be useful in finding a mentor: Resources: Before embarking on a mentoring relationship: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/before-embarking-on-a-mentoring-relationship/27682 Beginning the mentoring relationship: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/beginning-the-mentoring-relationship/27692 The Professional Mentor blog: https://www.theprofessionalmentor.com/blog.html Finding a mentor: Does your clinical Trust or academic partner institution offer a mentoring scheme? All doctoral and post-doctoral ICA awardees can access free, 1:1 clinical academic career mentorship through the mentorship scheme: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/explore-nihr/academy-programmes/hee-nihr-integrated-clinical-and-practitioner-academic-programme.htm#six For postdoctoral NIHR Academy Members, the NIHR Leaders Support and Development Programme is available: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/explore-nihr/academy-programmes/nihr-leaders-support-and-development-programme Resources for finding mentor Org that can help Information on organisations that can help with your research application Health Innovation Wessex Health Innovation Networks (HINs) are partnership bodies that bring together all partners across a regional health economy to improve the health of local communities. There are 15 HINs across England, established by NHS England in 2013 to spread innovation at pace and scale – improving health and generating economic growth. Each HIN works across a distinct geography serving a different population in each region. The HINs are: East Midlands Eastern Health Innovation Manchester Health Innovation Network Imperial College Health Partners Kent, Surrey and Sussex North East and North Cumbria Innovation Agency: Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast Oxford South West UCLPartners Wessex West Midlands West of England Yorkshire & Humber Each HIN works within its own area to develop projects, programmes and initiatives that reflect the diversity of our local populations and healthcare challenges. However, we all share the following priorities: Promoting economic growth: fostering opportunities for industry to work effectively with the NHS Spreading innovation at pace and scale: creating the right environment, and supporting collaboration across boundaries Improving patient safety: using knowledge, expertise and networks to bring together patients, healthcare staff and partners to determine priorities and develop and implement solutions Optimising medicine use: ensuring that medication is used to its maximum benefit – improving safety and making efficient use of NHS resources Improving quality and reducing variation: by spreading best practice we increase productivity and reduce variation, thereby improving patient outcomes Putting research into practice: our strong links with academia mean we are uniquely placed to support the translation of research into clinical practice Collaborating on national programmes. NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Wessex NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) support applied health and care research that responds to, and meets, the needs of local populations and local health and care systems. The NIHR ARC Wessex is one of 15 ARCs across England, part of a £135 million investment by the NIHR to improve the health and care of patients and the public.

0b30aba5-25eb-4a0f-ba09-0cc56d28cb07 PROCED-DST: PROactive, Collaborative and Efficient complex Discharge – Decision Support Tool Chief Investigator: Dr Chris Duckworth, Senior Research Engineer, University of Southampton Email: C.J.Duckworth@soton.ac.uk Team: Professor Michael Boniface, Director of the IT Innovation Centre, University of Southampton, (HEI) Dr Carlos Lamas-Fernandez, Associate Professor, Southampton Business School Dr Dan Burns, Senior Research Engineer, University of Southampton Dr Mark Wright, Patient Flow Lead, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (NHS) Rachel Leyland, Complex Discharge Team Manager, Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (NHS) Ian Dickerson (PPIE) Partners: Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Isle of Wight NHS Trust, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, University of Southampton, Health Innovation Wessex. Start: 1/10/24 End: 31/3/26 Summary As of January 2023, 14,436 patients a day (14% of total capacity) remained in hospital despite being well enough to leave. This is due to delays in arrangements for onward care. Discharge delay occupies beds putting pressure on a wide-range of NHS services. There are currently 7.6 million patients waiting for treatment and an average waiting time of 15 weeks. Leaving hospital at the right time is also better for patients for many reasons. It reduces physical and mental deconditioning and chance of hospital infections. Part of the problem is organising further care required after a hospital stay. For patients in hospitals for seven days or more, 65% are delayed because they are waiting for after-care including care at home, short-term reablement and permanent care or a nursing home. Discharge planning involves lots of people and organisations from patients through to clinical teams in hospitals, community care, and local authorities. Organising care takes time considering the availability of social care services and mediation with patients and their families. It is therefore important that patients are assessed, and needs identified as early as possible within a hospital stay to give time for planning and conversations. An initial discharge assessment is supposed to be made with the first 24 hours of hospital admission. In practice this planning is provided for less than 50% of patients. Staff workload and inability to identify care requirements can delay assessments. Aims: In a previous project called PROCED, we developed a machine learning model to predict onward care needs when someone is admitted to hospital. Machine learning is a computer programme that can learn from information about patients and the services they use to make predictions. We have compared the model against predictions made by clinicians, and the results have shown it works well. In PROCED-DST we aim to investigate how a machine learning prediction can support better discharge planning. By planning care earlier during hospital stays gives more time for patients and families to discuss care needs with care workers. Ultimately we aim to improve the chance that patients can leave hospital on time. Approach: We will consider how a computer algorithm can help clinicians organise onward care by predicting admitted patient’s potential onward care needs. We will organise collaborative sessions with clinicians, patients, and computer programmers to understand how it could be used in the hospital and consider how it may benefit or impact patients. Patient and Public Involvement: Patients and Public will be directly involved in designing, testing and evaluating a decision support tool and help decide how it should be used by care providers to help plan onward care. PPI will influence data usage, patient journey, algorithms and how this should be communicated. The public will participate in a steering committee who will organise a series of workshops to engage patients and public in the research. Dissemination : Communication materials will engage the public and decision makers. We will work with PPIE support networks to develop accessible communication and ensure distribution to diverse communities. Evidence of effectiveness, safety and acceptance will be published. A decision support tool with computer-based decision support will be demonstrated. The outcomes will be championed with institutional, regional, and national implementation teams.

Research areas Key research themes Ageing and Dementia Read More Long Term Conditions Read More Healthy Communities Read More Workforce & Health Systems Read More Cross-cutting research projects Mental Health Hub Read More Social Care Read More

0f5a7259-3857-4aa4-8b2c-0c628421e76a Interventions to support physical activity for adults (MOTH) Maintenance Of physical aTivity beHaviour (MOTH) programme Also see Digital support for maintaining physical activity in people with long-term conditions and Non-digital support for maintaining physical activity in people with long-term conditions – within Maintenance Of physical acTivity beHaviour (MOTH) programme Principal Investigator: Professor Mary Barker Deputy Lead: Professor Mary Barker ( Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Science) Professor Maria Stokes (Professor of Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, UK Head of Active Living Research Group) Team members: Dr James Gavin, Luisa Holt, Professor Jo Adams , Dr David Culliford , Professor Suzanne McDonough (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; Visiting Prof at UoS), Dr Aoife Stephenson (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland), Dr James Faulkner (University of Winchester), Mr Ranj Parmar , Mr Jem Lawson (Public contributors), Dr Euan Sadler , Dr Dorit Kunkel , Dr Simon Fraser , Professor Sandy Jack , Professor James Bilzon (University of Bath), Dr Simon Jones (University of Bath), Dr Enhad Chowdhury (University of Bath), Mr Jem Lawson and Mr Ranj Parmer (public contributors) Start: October 2019 Ends: 31 December 2023 Project Partners: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Winchester, Bournemouth University, University of Portsmouth, Wessex Clinical Research Network, University of Bath, NHS, AHSN Lay summary Physical activity is an important part of managing and preventing long-term conditions (LTC), through supporting people to remain active, improve symptoms and reduce future problems. A variety of digital and non-digital programmes and tools exist, such as exercise referral schemes and websites or mobile applications, to support people to start being active. However, these programmes/tools are often less effective at helping people to stay active in the longer term. The MOTH programme aims to identify existing digital tools and their components that help people with LTCs to stay active and understand the factors that support or inhibit their use in the NHS. The programme is also working with exercise referral schemes to evaluate and understand the needs of participants to support physical activity after the scheme has ended. Ultimately, the MOTH programme aims to develop digital and non-digital support that is usable, accessible and relevant to help people with LTCs to stay active. In doing so, the programme is aligned to many of the NHS long-term plan priorities, such as ‘responding to population needs’, ‘supporting people to age well’ and ‘increasing equitable provision of resources’

DEM-COMM programme Building Capacity in Dementia Research DEM-COMM is a capacity-building scheme for post-doctoral researchers working in applied dementia research. The scheme launched on October 1st, 2022, with funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Alzheimer’s Society, and will run until March 31st, 2026. The aim of DEM-COMM is to prepare a future cohort of researchers for the role of Chief Investigator in applied dementia research. This is an important and specialised role that carries with it the expectation that the lives of people living with (or at risk of) dementia will improve because of research. The scheme supports the development of 60 early to mid-career researchers working in one of the 15 Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) across England. Latest Blog from Ruth - DEM-COMM in Geneva Independent report on Mapping Dementia Research Capacity - Mapping career development opportunities in applied dementia research DEM-COMM is led by Professor Ruth Bartlett with ARC Wessex as the host and coordinating centre. We organise and create opportunities for this cohort of researchers to collaborate and develop capacities in applied dementia research. To date, this has included a Winter School (see image above), webinars, a joint networking event with the Three Schools Dementia Programme, facilitating the establishment of 12 Special Interest Groups, and creating an internship scheme to develop even more capacity. In May 2025, we are organising a National Festival of Applied Dementia Research. This will create opportunities for the DEM-COMM cohort to engage with people outside academia, including people living with dementia, carers, and service providers. DEM-COMM Research Fellows Dementia Post Doctoral Awards NIHR ARC East of England NIHR ARC East of England is using the funding to support post-doctoral career development awards combined with co-funding from our university partners (Cambridge, Hertfordshire, East Anglia, and Essex) to help promising researchers develop their skills and establish their own research projects, programmes and networks. DEM-COMM research fellows: 1. Dr Tamara Backhouse (UEA) - Optimising personal care assistance for people with advanced dementia 2. Dr Smruti Bulsari (Essex) – Researching in the area of dementia strategies. 3. Dr Julieta Camino (UEA) - Project TBC 4. Dr Megan Davies (UEA) How prehabilitation/rehabilitation can be implemented as a person-centred activity for people living in care homes, including those with dementia. 5. Dr Anna Dreyer - (Cambridge) – Social determinants in cognitive impairment and dementia 6. Dr Greg Windle - (Hertfordshire) - Investigating dementia-friendly community care in the East of England Read more NIHR ARC East Midlands DEM-COMM research fellows: 1. Dr Neil Chadborn - (Nottingham) – Access to technology and needs of people from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. 2. Dr Esther Loseto-Gerritzen - (Nottingham) – Exploring the needs of people with young onset dementia in terms of care and technology. 3. Dr Orii McDermott - (Nottingham) – Addressing unmet needs of people living with young onset dementia. Read more NIHR ARC Greater Manchester DEM-COMM research fellows: 1. Dr Emma Elliott (Manchester): Deconditioning in hospitalised patients with dementia . This involves a systematic review to examine evidence of physical activity interventions for hospitalised patients with dementia. The protocol is registered on PROSPERO here . 2. Dr Sarah Fox - (Manchester) - Everyday aesthetics and the intersection of arts and health: Everyday aesthetics and the intersection of arts and health: Involves the use of a participatory approach to develop, deliver and evaluate a tailored, multi-arts social intervention with people with dementia living at home. Read more 3. Dr Jaheeda Gangannagaripalli - (Manchester) - Keep On Keep Up (KOKU ) Digital technologies for falls preventions for people with dementia: The digital exercise programme is being modified for people with dementia. This fellowship will build on this to develop an intervention modification and feasibility RCT. Read more 4. Dr Sarah Smith (Manchester): Assessing the effects of physical activity interventions on the maintenance of cognitive function in midlife to reduce the risk of cognitive decline . The results of this systematic review will be explored with Public and Community Involvement and Engagement (PCIE) representatives and relevant stakeholders. Assessment of the need for a feasibility study will then follow. The protocol can be found on PROSPERO here . NIHR ARC Kent, Surrey and Sussex DEM-COMM research fellows: 1. Dr Alessandro Bosco - (Brighton and Sussex) – Project TBC 2. Dr Georgia Bell - (Brighton and Sussex) - Loneliness and dementia 3. Dr Barbora Silarova - (Kent) - Supporting wellbeing, quality of life and access to services for those with dementia living alone or in hard-to-reach areas and their unpaid carers 4. Dr Rasa Mikelyte - (Kent) - Integration of services for seamless dementia care Sarah Polack - (Brighton and Sussex) - Supporting well-being for people with dementia in deprived coastal communities/rural populations Read more NIHR ARC North East and North Cumbria The NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC) new dementia-focussed post-doctoral fellowships focus on: Care and support in socially disadvantaged communities. Care for dementia and multiple long-term conditions. Social care to maintain independence and dignity. The role of technology in dementia care will cut across the work programme. DEM-COMM Research Fellows: 1. Dr James Faraday - (Newcastle) - Mealtime care for people living with dementia in care homes. 2. Dr Steven Lyons (Newcastle) Investigating how music provides opportunities for residents in care homes to live healthy lives, build relationships and maintain independence and dignity. 3. Dr Marie Poole - (Newcastle) - Two core areas: 1. the role of new Integrated Care Systems (ICS) in the provision of dementia care for people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds; Dr Connor Richardson - (Newcastle) - An investigation into the effects of anti-inflammatory medication have on risk of in life dementia and pathology in a population representative cohort age 65 years and over using the CFAS population 4. 2. The role of sporting clubs as emerging providers of dementia support to engage with people from socially disadvantaged communities. 5. Dr Tamlyn Watermeyer - (Northumbria University) - Involving people with Learning Disabilities in dementia research & care through technological solutions. NIHR ARC North Thames DEM-COMM Research Fellows: Alex Tsui - (UCL) - Acute care of people living with dementia Esther Hui - (UCL) - Risk factors for dementia prevention 1. Dr Kumud Kantilal (UCL) Project TBC NIHR ARC Northwest London The ARC researchers will work collaboratively on three projects: · Development, piloting, and evaluation of community-based case-finding and support for individuals with cognitive impairment or dementia, delivered by Community Health and Wellbeing Workers (CHWWs); · CHARIOT PRO, a prospective longitudinal, biomarker and data – enriched study of cognitively healthy individuals, aiming to evaluate key biological mechanisms and identify risk in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD); and · eFINGER PRINT a population-based study for ADRD prevention, and includes piloting of innovative e-based assessments and interventions for self-led lifestyle change. DEM-COMM Research Fellows : 1. Dr Roxanna Korologou-Linden (Imperial) - Project TBC. 2. Dr Sujin Kang - (Imperial) Dr Roxanna Korologou-Linden (Imperial) Cognitive Health in Ageing Register: Investigational, Observational, and Trial Studies in Dementia Research (CHARIOT): Prospective Readiness cOhort Study(PRO). Dr Pallavi Nair - (Imperial) - identification and support of individuals with dementia and mild cognitive impairment in the community setting by community health and wellbeing workers (CHWWs). See ARC NWL site NIHR ARC North West Coast The NIHR ARC North West Coast projects are underpinned by a focus on health inequalities in dementia, building on the strength of our ARC and its ongoing dementia portfolio, including at the Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum, which will act as a key outlet for disseminating the research nationally and internationally. DEM-COMM Research Fellows: 1. Dr Sandra Ismail (Liverpool) - Religiosity and spirituality in risks of cognitive frailty and dementia 2. Dr Laura Prato - (Liverpool) - Dementia care navigators 3. Dr Megan Polden - (Liverpool) - Examining the impacts of singing support services for people living with dementia and their carers on well-being, quality of life, social isolation, and loneliness. 4. Dr Megan Readman - (Liverpool) - Parkinson’s disease dementia and link with hearing loss NIHR ARC Oxford and Thames Valley NIHR ARC Oxford and Thames Valley researchers are active in the development of applied health and social care research across all stages of the NHS Well Pathway for Dementia: prevention, diagnosis, treatment, community support, and palliative care. Areas include: Detailed phenotyping at pre-diagnosis and diagnosis (preventing well, diagnosing well) Mapping diagnostic trajectories and longer-term support needs (supporting well, living well, dying well) Reducing inequalities in dementia prevention and access to health and social care services (all NHS Well Pathway stages) DEM-COMM Research Fellows: 1. Dr Ting Cai - (Oxford) - Exploring preventive medications for dementia: big-data based pharmacoepidemiological research 2. Dr Padraig Dixon - (Oxford) - Understanding the cost-effectiveness of drug therapies (particularly repurposed drug therapies) to prevent and treat conditions. 3. Dr Jiamin Du - (Oxford) - Early diagnosis of dementia and real-world data. 4. Joseph Kwon - (Oxford) - Whole-disease economic modelling of dementia prevention and care 5. Dr Caroline Potter - (Oxford) - Exploring the availability and effectiveness of community-based support for enabling people to maintain health and wellbeing following initial diagnosis of dementia or its precursor (MCI). 6. Dr Subhashisa Swain - (Oxford) - Biological ageing in dementia and multimorbidity trajectories and clusters. NIHR ARC South London NIHR ARC South London is building research capacity in palliative and social care for people living with dementia through two interventions: Co-designing a validated tool with family carers, to support care, decision-making and access to services. The Integrated Person-centred Outcome Scale in dementia (IPOS-Dem) tool includes assessment of symptoms, emotional, spiritual and information needs and will be integrated with telehealth. Developing interventions to support care homes in better meeting residents’ spiritual needs, particularly those living with dementia from minority cultural or faith backgrounds. The research will be informed by perspectives of care home staff, residents living with dementia, and their family and friends to increase understanding of the beliefs and spiritual needs of residents living with dementia. Guidance and policies will be developed to help care home staff support spiritual care. DEM-COMM Research Fellows: 1. Dr Annabel Farnood - (KCL) - Empowering better end of life dementia care for family carers of people with dementia’ (EMBED-Care4FamilyCarers) 2. Dr Olivia Luijnenburg - (KCL) - Spirituality in residential care for people living with dementia: implementing reflective tools for care workers of people living with dementia. (SpiritDem for short) 3. Dr Lesley Williamson - (KCL) - Using routine data to understand and improve health and social care for people with dementia near the end of life NIHR ARC Wessex The NIHR ARC Wessex Ageing and Dementia theme focusses on independent living with and for older people with complex health and social care needs. DEM-COMM Research Fellows: Dr Nuno Tavares - (Portsmouth) - Exploring the self-management process of other long-term conditions in people living with Dementia Dr Catherine Murphy - (Southampton) - Dementia and continence management: Supporting homecare workers Dr Gladys Yinusa - (Bournemouth) - TOMATO: nuTritiOn and deMentia AT hOme - Watch Gladys explain Dr Pippa Collins (Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust) - An ethnographic exploration into the work of caring for paid homecare workers NIHR ARC West DEM-COMM Research Fellows: 1. Dr Katie Breheny - (Bristol) - To improve use of preference-based outcome measures in the economic evaluation of interventions for people with dementia 2. Dr Elisabeth (Lis) Grey - (Bristol) - Evaluation of a Parkinson's Treatment Hub and development of dementia interventions and evaluation tools to support people from diverse communities 3. Dr Natasha Woodstoke - (UWE) - Supporting families to adjust to a diagnosis of dementia: Adapting the LivDem intervention NIHR ARC West Midlands The ARC funding, provided by NIHR in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society, is supporting a cohort of post-doctoral health and care researchers toward independence, developing their skills to establish their own research projects, programmes and ultimately groups. NIHR ARC West Midlands DEM-COMM Research Fellows are: 1. Dr Paul Campbell - (Keele) - Social Care Practice 2. Dr Sue Molesworth - (Keele) - Dementia’s place within the developing ICS/ICB landscape/multidisciplinary approaches 3. Dr Chris Poyner - (Birmingham) - People living with Dementia and informal carer/family experience within a social care context. NIHR ARC Yorkshire and Humber NIHR ARC Yorkshire and Humber is examining how potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia intersect with ethnicity and sociodemographic factors (University of Bradford), and a quantitative investigation of the policy impact of interventions to target dementia risk factors across ethnic groups and by deprivation using cohort study and routinely available, linked health and care datasets. in addition a Alzheimer’s Society postdoctoral research fellow is focusing on prevention of dementia, taking into account wider sociodemographic factors. DEM-COMM Research Fellows: 1. Dr Amirah Akhtar - (Bradford) - Promoting healthy lifestyles to reduce dementia risk factors in minority ethnic communities. 2. Dr Lin Gong – (Leeds) Dementia prevention and health inequalities among different ethnical groups. 3. Dr Emmanuel Nwofe (Bradford) Dementia prevention and health inequalities among different ethnical groups. NIHR ARC South West Peninsula ARC South West Peninsula have awarded fellowships to 4 early-career researchers, giving them the experience and training to help them to develop into future leaders in dementia research. DEM-COMM Research Fellows: 1. Dr Catherine Alexander - (Exeter) - IDEAL project 2. Dr Iliana Lourida - (Exeter) - TBC 3. Dr Tomasina Oh - (Plymouth) - TBC 4. Dr Hannah Wheat - (Plymouth) - D-PACT; ENLIVEN Projects Read more here