Search Results

Growing research capacity Starting in October 2019, Professors Alison Richardson and Cathy Bowen devised a strategy to meet one of ARC Wessex primary goals –growing the number of skilled and experienced health and care researchers in Wessex. Cathy Bowen brought in Dr Kinda Ibrahim to help her lead the Academic Career Development team. Their vision was to work with partners to grow the research talents of health and care professionals and other professions. Over seven years, this collaboration has awarded 117 internships , 8 PhD fellowships and supported 29 post-doctoral researchers – reaching across the health and care sectors, professions and different backgrounds. “Every step in academic career development is a step toward shaping the future of healthcare. At NIHR ARC Wessex we introduced a programme of awards to ignite curiosity, nurture talent, and empower individuals to turn ideas into breakthroughs that transform lives. Thank you for collaborating with us—together, we have created lasting impact.” Professor Alison Richardson ARC Wessex Director “Through strategic investment in people and ideas, it has been a privilege to support the development of the next generation of health and care researchers, driving change that will define the future of care and improving patient outcomes across our region.” Professor Cathy Bowen Lead for Academic Career Development “Growing the internship programme has been one of the most rewarding parts of my role. I’ve seen how a small amount of funding can open doors, spark confidence, and completely change someone’s career trajectory. It’s not just about individual growth. Host organisations have integrated evidence-based approaches into everyday workflows, turning research insights into practical changes that improve care and efficiency. Watching those journeys unfold reminds me why investing in people is the most powerful way to drive change.” Dr Kinda Ibrahim, Deputy Lead for Academic Career Development With thanks to the Academic Career Development advisory group Dr Caroline Barker, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (2019-2022) Professor Ruth Bartlett, UNiversity of Southampton (2023-2026) Professor Carol Clark, Bournemouth University (2019-2026) Dr James Faulkner (University of Winchester & University of Southampton) (2019-2025) Professor Lee-Ann Fenge, Bournemouth University (2023-2026) Dr Leah Fullegar, Portsmouth Health Determinants Research Collaboration (2025-2026) Dr Genevieve Groom, Portsmouth City Council (2024) Anne-Marie Hankinson, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (2024-2026) Dr Rachel Harrison, University of Winchester (2024-2026) Professor Vanora Hundley, Bournemouth University (2019-2022) Dr David Kryl, formerly Wessex AHSN (2019-2024) Dr Mark Lown, University of Southampton (2021-2026) Karen Musk, University of Portsmouth (2019-2021) Dr Jenny Roddis, University of Portsmouth (2021-2026) Sandie Skinner, Health Education England - Wessex (2019-2020) Sarah Simon, Southampton Health Determinants Research Collaboration (2024-2026) Dr Sarah Williams, Director of Research and Improvement at Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust (2019-2026) Meet our interns, PhD, and Post-Docs Read more 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

d1fc46a9-cf57-4dda-98fb-a4ccb44fa87b FORTH – FORecasting Turbulence in Hospitals Chief Investigator: Edilson Arruda, Associate Professor, University of Southampton Team: Christine Currie University of Southampton Alexandra Hogan NHS Salisbury/ University of Southampton Jamie MacNamara University Hospital Southampton Mark Wright University Hospital Southampton Michael Boniface University of Southampton Carlos Lamas-Fernandez University of Southampton Partners: Salisbury Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University of Southapton, University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Start: 1 October 2024 End: 31 March 2026 Summary Over time, health systems face changes. Population grows older or hospitals can perform new treatments. It is difficult to match the resources of hospitals with population needs. If they do not match, waiting times for treatment increase and hospitals become fuller. Hospitals being too full can result in worse care for patients. For example, hospitals might need to cancel surgeries. Aim(s) of the research When the usual demand for hospital resources changes, it becomes difficult for hospitals to provide care. We call this turbulence. Our first objective is to define how turbulence can be measured from data. Then, we will use artificial intelligence to understand the causes of turbulence. We will also create models for short-term prediction of turbulence. This will help hospital plan better. Design and methods used This project will look at the records of patients in hospitals to understand what resources they use. The data will give us an understanding of how long certain activities take. For example, the recovery from surgery. We will predict when these times are changing using artificial intelligence. This can help hospitals be alert of upcoming changes, so they choose the best way to react. Patient, public and community involvement (PPCI) We will engage with the views of public, patients and communities during the project execution phase. We will hold workshops with patient groups that have been to hospital. We will understand their views on the planning services. We will also take into account their ideas when defining turbulence. Dissemination This project was co-designed and will be supported by University Hospital Southampton (UHS) and Salisbury Hospital. The results will be disseminated and championed within the partnering institutions, and further presented in workshops involving neighbouring NHS Trusts in Wessex and in the south east and south west of England. We will also publish papers and reports to disseminate the work to a larger audience within the UK and internationally.

1c23cf8b-3886-4a98-9ca5-1588bcdda392 ADOPTED PROJECT: Development of a decision aid for offloading device selection for people with diabetic foot ulceratio ADOPTED PROJECT: Development of a decision aid for offloading device selection for people with diabetic foot ulceration Principal Investigator: Dr Lindsey Cherry , Associate Professor University of Southampton Research team: Dr Michael Backhouse, Associate Professor, University of Warwick; Dr Kate Lippiet, University of Southampton & Wessex Cancer Alliance, Dr Surussawadi Bennett – Research Fellow, Ms Joanne Casey – Senior Research Administrator Partners: Great Foundations Charity (Funder) University of Southampton & Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Diabetes UK, University of Warwick, University of Plymouth & Wessex Cancer Alliance So far, we found that people have different priorities when needing to choose between treatment options. There are pros and cons for each treatment. Treatment choice can be summarised into removable (‘ROD’ e.g., a specialist boot) and non-removable (‘NROD’ e.g., a plaster cast) offloading devices. Choosing between ROD and NROD is important to people. Evidence to support one treatment over another differs depending upon the treatment goal. For example, NROD is likely to heal the wound quickly. ROD is likely to be more comfortable and people can still drive. People (staff and patients) are often unclear about what a decision aid is and how it could be used to support discussion about treatment choice – so we made a helpful animation: OFFLOAD: what is shared decision making? https://vimeo.com/1158396239 We talked with patients about their experience of using ROD/NROD and making a treatment choice. We found out what people need that is currently missing in their care. We talked with clinicians about their experience of prescribing ROD/NROD and supporting people to make treatment choices. We found out what the barriers or enablers are to supporting choice in routine practice. We worked with patient and professional advisors and our PPIE partner Debs to create an animation that explains what a decision aid is and how to use it. The animation will be made publicly available on completion of the study. We completed an in-depth review of the literature to identify evidence supporting each treatment option. We used the learning from patient & clinician experience and the literature review to create a decision aid (a written summary of the choice to be made and comparative evidence for each treatment option based upon factors identified as important to people e.g., speed of wound healing, risk of infection or amputation, mobility, ability to drive, comfort etc.). We tested and refined the decision aid in clinical settings. Our next step is to evaluate the difference in health and wellbeing that use of the aid makes. We worked with a design company, our study advisory board and our PPIE partner to create a user-friendly version of the decision aid. This ensures people with differing health literacy have access to decision support. We plan to: Publish our research findings (interviews with patients and clinicians, literature review, development of the DA) Apply for NIHR RfPB funding to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of using the decision aid in clinical practice Continue working with PPIE and Charity partners to understand the challenges and opportunities to access OFFLOAD devices and enable choice Work with industry partners to explore routes to supporting knowledge mobilisation about offloading decision support and use of the DA in the UK and internationally Work with international partners to share the animation in Canada; to explore French translation and cultural adaptation

ARC Wessex Early Career Researchers - Cara Black, Naomi Leonard, Olivia Taylor and Annabelle Prescott < Back Engaging Children and Young People in Research Community of Practice Inaugural Meeting ARC Wessex Early Career Researchers - Cara Black, Naomi Leonard, Olivia Taylor and Annabelle Prescott September 2023, University of York, UK There is a knowledge gap in our understanding about approaches and methods for meaningfully involving and engaging with children and young people in matters and decisions that impact on them. We went to a two-day meeting at the University of York with researchers from the University of York, Bristol, Hertfordshire, Southampton and Auckland, NZ as well as a representative from the International Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders. This group came together to form an international Community of Practice (CoP), with the goal of sharing learning, methods, and experience for effective ways to engage young people. It also highlighted the wide variety of opportunities for putting children and young people at the heart of research, decision making and advocacy for their mental health and well-being. Here are our reflections as early career researchers (ECRs) from the meeting: What did we gain from the meeting? We thoroughly enjoyed being with professionals who have expertise in research for youth health, wellbeing, mental health, and youth advocacy. We gained an understanding of what exactly a community of practice is, listened to the experiences of all members and contributed to the conversations. It was lovely to hear international voices and get to exchange creative ideas for involving young people and encouraging them to share their ideas, as well as learning a great deal about youth engagement in general. What were our highlights? Hearing from the Healthy Mind Apprentices; Chloe, Kenzie, Lauren & Phoebe who are a group of young people passionate about mental health who work across Bradford and Craven to support young people, communities and schools with their health and wellbeing. They reflected on their time working with Y-MHESH and spoke about what their apprenticeship meant to them and what they have learned along the way. They shared with us that the problem is not that young people don’t have a voice; they instead believe that decision makers are not listening. Therefore, it was interesting to hear that we need to take necessary steps to ensure ‘decision makers’ are able and willing to share the decision-making power with young people. Overall being involved in the CoP was positive, as we had the opportunity to be involved in discussions with leaders in the field. Often, we can become ‘stuck’ in our ideas, so having the opportunity to present new ideas and challenge our Community of Practice to think in novel ways which align with the realities for children and young people was a highlight for sure. What could have been improved? It might have been more beneficial for our CoP group if the Healthy Mind Apprentices joined us for longer, as these fabulous young people reminded us that it is about listening and valuing meaningful involvement of children and young people, so it would have been great to have more youth representation in our own decision-making processes. Youth voices should be included throughout our CoP meetings, whether this be the Healthy Mind apprentices or groups of different young people. One of the main challenges in this area is that when coproduction and research is done with young people, they often don’t see the outputs they have created or get to feel the impact of their work before they move. It’s important we consider this when setting out to do co-production work or research with children and young people. What are the advantages of involving early career researchers in research and in the CoP? We provide a fresh perspective on topical issues today and have greater freedom to think beyond our specialty areas. This gives us the ability to consider the broader picture at an international or societal level and bridge the gap between young people and established researchers, as we understand the points of view and needs of young people, while simultaneously understanding research processes. This meeting was a great way to solidify the learning from the CoP and focus us on a clear path forward to best support the goals of children and young people in research. Reflections Reflections on public engagement and engagement in research for young people From the perspective of an ECR, it seems extremely important that “brand image” and visibility are recognised by senior management at universities and funders at research centers. Engaging well with the public, in this case, young people, both heightens visibility and reinforces brand image, which is why Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) work with young people within schools, young people’s PPI groups and other youth groups, including the Healthy Mind Apprenticeship scheme, is so valuable. Although, it can be difficult to get PPIE work funded. The purpose of PPIE work is to get people’s views on what needs to be researched and what is important to them, so to do this after a project has been decided defeats the purpose. Young people form part of our communities, but their inputs have been historically overlooked as unimportant or uninformed. Yet, some of the most valuable insights come from our young people, because at the end of the day this is their reality, and they live it every day. It is therefore crucial to have young people be meaningfully engaged so research, funding and decisions are aligned with what people want and need – and children and young people should be no exception. If we consider and give power to the voices of young people, then perhaps we can work to meaningfully elevate the health and wellbeing of entire future communities. So with that, we leave you with this whakatauki (Māori proverb). Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi With red and black the work will be complete https://video.wixstatic.com/video/6fe132_dc59b9a176b94aa791cb13bf6997b1fa/1080p/mp4/file.mp4 Previous Next

35fc5ade-22b2-4685-9329-21c42b28a888 Testing the living with chronic illness scale Validation of the living with chronic illness scale in an English-speaking population with Long-term conditions Principal Investigator: Professor Mari-Carmen Portillo (Professor of Long-Term Conditions. School of Health Sciences. University of Southampton) Team members: Dr Kelly Hislop-Lennie (Principal Investigator). Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing. University of Bournemouth. Dr Leire Ambrosio. Senior Research Fellow. School of Health Sciences and NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Wessex, University of Southampton. Ms Hannah Barker. PhD student at the School of Geography, University of Southampton. Dr David Culliford. Principal Research Fellow and Senior Medical Statistician. School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. Dr Emily Arden-Close. Principal Academic in the Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University. Dr Jo Hope. Lecturer. School of Health Sciences and NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Wessex, University of Southampton. Dr James Bennet. Primary Care Research Locality Lead, Clinical Research Network Wessex. Dr Simon Fraser. Associate Professor of Public Health. University of Southampton Dr Corine Driessens. Senior Research Fellow in Statistics. NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Wessex, University of Southampton. Dr Nestor Serrano-Fuentes. Senior Research Fellow. School of Health Sciences and NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Wessex, University of Southampton. Start: 1 October 2019 Ends: 30 September 2021 Project Partners: Clinical Research Network (CRN) Wessex, Primary Care Dorset, Bournemouth University, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust NHS: Alresford Surgery. Alresford, Angel Hill Surgery. Bury St. Edmunds, Banbury Cross Health Centre. Oxfordshire, Buchanan Road Surgery. Sheffield, Buttercross Health Centre. Somerton, Glastonbury Health Centre. Glastonbury, Heeley Green Surgery. Sheffield, Ixworth Surgery. Ixworth, Newquay Health Centre. Newquay, Oaks Healthcare. Waterlooville, Park Road Surgery. Teddington, Rosedale Surgery. Lowestoft, Shreeji Medical Centre. Slough, Swanage Health Centre. Swanage, The Park Medical Practice. Shepton Mallet, Trafalgar Medical Group Practice. Portsmouth, Wareham Surgery. Wareham, White Horse Medical Practice. Faringdon. Charity Partners: Parkinson’s UK , Diabetes UK and Asthma UK What did we find out? The scale successfully measures individuals’ experiences of living with one or more long-term conditions We found that the scale was acceptable to 577 people from the United Kingdom living with different long-term conditions. The results recommend shortening the original version of the scale for better use in clinical practice. What difference can this new knowledge make? The scale does not focus on the disease but on how the person lives with the disease; therefore, identifying physical, emotional, spiritual, and social complex needs and what is meaningful and relevant to people. Utilising the scale as an assessment and diagnostic tool in primary care could result in better health care. For example, it could support the development of more comprehensive and individualised care plans, a more effective and directed referral to specialists and community support groups, and regular monitoring. Its use could bridge health and social care services, developing and evaluating care pathways based on the commonalities across conditions (not medical diagnosis), and improving patient experience. Why is this important? This work has led to a new understanding of key elements that health and social care interventions must address to improve the lives of people living with long-term conditions. It highlights the need to focus on capturing the things that matter to people living with one or more long-term conditions in the UK. What next? The next step is to carry out a feasibility implementation study of the scale in clinical practice, particularly for people living with type 2 diabetes. The use of this scale in clinical practice has the potential to improve the daily lives of people with multiple conditions, improving their quality of life and well-being. It can also help improve referral processes and coordinate care. Outputs from research: Ambrosio, L., Hislop-Lennie, K., Serrano-Fuentes, N., Driessens, C., & Portillo, M. C. (2023). First validation study of the living with long term conditions scale (LwLTCs) among English-speaking population living with Parkinson's disease. Health and quality of life outcomes, 21(1), 69. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-023-02154-6 Ambrosio, L., Hislop-Lennie, K., Barker, H., Culliford, D., & Portillo, M. C. (2021). Living with Long term condition Scale: A pilot validation study of a new person centred tool in the UK. Nursing open, 8(4), 1909–1919. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.859 Ambrosio L, Navarta-Sánchez MV, Portillo MC, Martin-Lanas R, Recio M, Riverol M. Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale in family caregivers of patients with Parkinson's Disease: Spanish validation study. Health Soc Care Community. 2021 Jul;29(4):1030-1040. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13137 Ambrosio L, Hislop-Lennie K, Serrano-Fuentes N, Driessens C, Portillo MC. Psychometric properties of the living with long term conditions scale in an English-speaking population living with long term conditions in the UK. BMJ Open. 2024 Jan 10;14(1):e077978. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077978 Background and origina lay summary Long term conditions (LTCs) are a worldwide challenge because of their complications, increasing numbers, costs and impact on people’s lives. In order to develop interventions that improve the adaptation to illness and quality of life, we need appropriate, reliable and valid tools, which reflect cultural and language diversities and individual needs. This would benefit both patients and health/social care professionals in the management of LTC, by allowing the patients a way to express their needs and therefore, allow the health/social care professional to direct the patient to specific, relevant resources. The present study aims to produce an English version of the Living with Chronic Illness Scale and establish if it can be useful and applicable to English speaking people with LTCs in the UK. The Living with Chronic Illness Scale is the only available tool, which comprehensively evaluates the experience of living with a long-term condition, focusing on the person and not on the disease. This scale was created after previous research, and successfully used with people with Parkinson’s Disease from Spain and South America, in Spanish. In this study we will first translate the Spanish version of the scale into English, making any necessary cultural changes. After this, we will test the understanding of the approved English version with 15 people with LTCs. Then, we will use the final English version of the scale with at least 1,650 people with different LTCs in community settings from Wessex. Apart from the Living with Chronic Illness Scale, we will ask participants about perceived social support, life satisfaction, quality of life, and the perceived severity of their LTC(s), using tools for English speakers. Finally, 2 discussion groups will take place with people with LTC, 2 with family-carers and 2 with health professionals to explore and compare their views about the usefulness of this scale in the daily management of LTC. People with long-term conditions and associations have contributed to the choice of topic, research and dissemination plan.

Senior Research Assistant < Back Gabrielle Palermo Senior Research Assistant Ageing and Dementia Gabrielle Palermo is a Senior Research Assistant at the NIHR ARC Wessex Mental Health Hub, University of Southampton. She supports quantitative research on alcohol use disorder in older adults and contributes to other Hub projects involving complex routine datasets, including the OLA study. With over 20 years of experience in applied statistics, Gabrielle specialises in quantitative methods for epidemiological, socioeconomic, and public health research, particularly in the analysis of survey and administrative data. Her expertise includes multilevel modelling, complex survey design for cross-sectional and longitudinal data, data cleaning and linkage, and the treatment of missing data. She holds an MSc in Population Studies and a BSc in Statistics from ENCE–IBGE (Brazil). Her doctoral research focuses on statistical methodologies for unbalanced longitudinal data in sample-based educational panel studies, with emphasis on school effectiveness and pupil mobility. Since 2022, she has worked across multiple departments within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, contributing to research in epidemiology and clinical trials. Previous Next

Healthier Southampton Many of the things that affect our health also affect the environment. For example, the foods that we eat and whether we walk or drive. Some of these things also affect whether we can access good quality, nutritional food- for example, what lunches are provided by schools or colleges, and whether people can get a local allotment. It can be useful to see weight, food, and the environment as part of a complex system, a web of things that all influence each other. We are running a research exercise with local community members in Southampton on the 26th November, and we’ll share the results of that meeting here. We will run some more community gatherings on 3rd December 2025 where we will talk through the results of our research exercise and take part in a series of activities in small groups designed to explore the Southampton system in more detail. If you have any questions or comments about this research, please email j.l.barker@soton.ac.uk .

Events Coming up Date and time is TBD Social Care Lunchtime Seminar | Event postponed until a later date / Via Zoom Learn more Date and time is TBD Via Zoom Health inequalities of ethnic minorities groups in the UK Tue, Mar 24 ARC Wessex Alcohol Research Webinar / Microsoft Teams Webinar Learn more Mar 24, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Microsoft Teams Webinar Thu, Mar 19 CRED Talk: Healthcare delegation and job satisfaction in home care / Microsoft Teams Webinar Learn more Mar 19, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Microsoft Teams Webinar Wed, Mar 11 CRED Talk: In conversation, thoughts and reflections from early career social care researchers / Microsoft Teams Webinar Learn more Mar 11, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Microsoft Teams Webinar Wed, Feb 11 ARC Wessex Healthy Communities Theme Meeting / Microsoft TEAMS Learn more Feb 11, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Microsoft TEAMS Join us to learn more about the Healthy Communities Theme projects and activities Mon, Nov 24 ARC Wessex Webinar: Living with Multiple Long Term Conditions / Microsoft Teams Webinar Learn more Nov 24, 2025, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Microsoft Teams Webinar Wed, Nov 05 CRED Talk: The Characteristics of the Social Care Workforce in England and Australia / Microsoft Teams Webinar Learn more Nov 05, 2025, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Microsoft Teams Webinar Mon, Nov 03 ARC Wessex Webinar: Young People in Research / Microsoft Teams Webinar Learn more Nov 03, 2025, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Microsoft Teams Webinar Wed, Oct 22 ARC Wessex Healthy Communities Theme Meeting / Microsoft TEAMS Learn more Oct 22, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Microsoft TEAMS Join us to learn more about the Projects and work of the Healthy Communities Theme Thu, Oct 16 Understanding why, who and when people decline an offer of accommodation in Portsmouth and continue to rough sleep / Online Seminar Learn more Oct 16, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Online Seminar Understanding why, who and when people decline an offer of accommodation in Portsmouth and continue to rough sleep - A realist informed evaluation' Mon, Oct 13 ARC Wessex Webinar: Supporting the Workforce / Microsoft Teams Learn more Oct 13, 2025, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Microsoft Teams Tue, Oct 07 ARC Event 2025 / Southampton Learn more Oct 07, 2025, 9:15 AM – 2:30 PM Southampton Applied Research, Real Lives, Change that matters Mon, Oct 06 ARC Qualitative Network Meeting | “Autoethnography” presented by Dr Becki Nash / Online seminar MSTeams Learn more Oct 06, 2025, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Online seminar MSTeams Cycles of Consideration, Judgement, and Slippage: Autoethnographic Accounts of Researching Medical Cosmetic Procedures Wed, Sep 17 ARC Wessex Ageing & Dementia Theme Meeting / Microsoft TEAMS Learn more Sep 17, 2025, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM Microsoft TEAMS Join us to learn more about the Projects and work of the Ageing & Dementia Theme Mon, Sep 15 ARC Wessex Webinar: Empowering People to use Digital Solutions / Microsoft Teams Learn more Sep 15, 2025, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Microsoft Teams Find out how our researchers are improving digital healthcare Thu, Sep 04 Supporting Health Professionals Research Development / The ARK Conference Centre Learn more Sep 04, 2025, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM The ARK Conference Centre, Dinwoodie Dr, Basingstoke RG24 9NN, UK Wed, Jul 09 NIHR ARCs national webinar (#ARCseminar): Creative arts for dementia / Recording available below Details Jul 09, 2025, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Recording available below In this year's national #ARCseminar series, we explore the healing power of creative arts. Here, in the third webinar of the series, we will be hearing from researchers on: Creative arts for dementia care. Thu, Jul 03 Research Readiness in Homecare / Bournemouth Details Jul 03, 2025, 10:30 AM – 3:30 PM Bournemouth, 89 Holdenhurst Rd, Bournemouth BH8 8EB, UK This event will focus on identifying opportunities to enhance research engagement and strengthen collaborations to drive better outcomes for people living with dementia at home. Wed, Jun 25 Empowering Ageing through Digital Health Coaching / Bournemouth University Lansdown Campus Learn more Jun 25, 2025, 12:30 PM – 4:00 PM Bournemouth University Lansdown Campus, Gateway Building, BG302, 12 St Paul's Ln, Bournemouth BH8 8GP, UK Celebrating the success of the DIALOR (DIgitAL cOaching for fRailty) project (funded by NIHR ARC Wessex) Load More Previous events

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 implementation 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. 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.

dcda912e-45e2-47ca-a777-aad1c26161d1 ADOPTED PROJECT: Supported remote rehabilitation post Covid-19 COMPLETED: Development, deployment, and evaluation of a digitally enabled rehabilitation programme Chief Investigator: Professor Elizabeth Murray – University College London, Dr Henry Goodfellow – University College London Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care Project Team Members: Dr Katherine Bradbury – University Of Southampton, Dr Stuart Linke – Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, Mr Chris Robson – University College London, Professor Fiona Stevenson – University College London Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, Dr Manuel Gomes – University College London Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, Dr Fiona Hamilton – University College London Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, Professor Ann Blandford – University College London, Professor John Hurst – University College London, Professor Delmiro Fernandez- Reyes – University College London, Professor William Henley – University of Exeter Medical School, Dr Melissa Heightman – University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Paul Pfeffer – Barts Health NHS Trust, Dr William Ricketts – Barts Health NHS Trust, Ms Hannah Hylton – Barts Health NHS, Trust Dr Richa Singh – Barts Health NHS Trust, Ms Julia Bindman – Patient and Public Involvement contributor based in England. Publication: October 2025 - D esign and deployment of digital health interventions to reduce the risk of the digital divide and to inform development of the living with COVID recovery: a systematic scoping review Organisations Involved: Living With, NHS England, various NHS trusts, AHSN Wessex, UCL Partners. Start Date: 1st October 2020 End Date: 30th September 2023 Background: Covid-19 had affected nearly 300,000 patients in the UK by 6/7/20. Many remain symptomatic with breathlessness, fatigue, and anxiety for weeks or months. These symptoms can be improved with rehabilitation, but traditional, face-to-face models of service delivery will struggle to cope with these large numbersof patients. A digital approach is likely to be needed, but there are numerous challenges with this approach, including failures of implementation; anxieties around the digital divide/health inequalities; and concerns around low engagement with such programmes. Aim: To refine, deploy and evaluate a digitally- mediated, remote, supported rehabilitation programme for patients affected by Covid-19.Methods: We will combine research methods common to engineering and computer science (focused on developing a product that is safe, stable and meets user requirements) with those familiar to biomedical and health service researchers (focused on effectiveness and population impact). Thus, we will apply the Medical Research Council (MRC) Framework for development and evaluation of complex interventions (Phases 1, 2 and 4) Publications Experiences of user-centred design with agile development for clinically supported self-management of Long Covid Trajectories of functional limitations, health-related quality of life and societal costs in individuals with Long COVID: a population based longitudinal cohort study Additional funding The work from this project led to an additional Grant from NIHR SPCR Do community-based digital health inclusion programmes contribute to tackling health inequalities in disadvantaged population groups?

DEM-COMM programme Building Capacity in Dementia Research DEM-COMM has been a successful 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-COMMhas been 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 supported the development of more than 70 early to mid-career researchers working in one of the 15 Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) across England. Read the full report Supporting the future generation of Chief Investigators in Applied Dementia Research Independent report on Mapping Dementia Research Capacity - Mapping career development opportunities in applied dementia research Dementia Festival 2025 report DEM-COMM is led by Professor Ruth Bartlett with ARC Wessex as the host and coordinating centre. In 2026 we celebrated the end of the DEM-COMM programme at an event in Southampton - below are just some of the videos and images from that day Southampton Test MP Satvir Kaur explains how important the work of the Dementia Fellows has been and how personal it is to her. Lisa Hammond from the Alzheimer's Society who part funded the Dem-Comm fellowships praises their impact on the lives of people with dementia and their carers and families. Watch the DEMCOMM showreel created to celebrate all the hard work and achievements of the NIHR Dementia Fellows 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 (https://arc-eoe.nihr.ac.uk/news-insights/news-latest/arc-eoe-wins-funding-boost-dementia-research-careers) 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 (https://arc-em.nihr.ac.uk/research?national_arc_projects%5B%5D=64) NIHR ARC Greater Manchester DEM-COMM research fellows: 1. Dr Emma Elliott (Manchester): Deconditioning in hospitalised patients with dementia.(https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farc-gm.nihr.ac.uk%2Fprojects%2Fdeconditioning-in-hospitalised-patients-with-dementia&data=05%7C02%7Cjamie.stevenson%40soton.ac.uk%7C0378d44b042b48ba3ebf08dc44dc95fa%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C0%7C0%7C638460961413724332%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=OJfTB4q78bI%2F09qMxh0%2BkgFh%2FWGxqYoJtcBKB9xRNRY%3D&reserved=0) This involves a systematic review to examine evidence of physical activity interventions for hospitalised patients with dementia. The protocol is registered on PROSPERO here.(https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.crd.york.ac.uk%2Fprospero%2Fdisplay_record.php%3FRecordID%3D482947&data=05%7C02%7Cjamie.stevenson%40soton.ac.uk%7C0378d44b042b48ba3ebf08dc44dc95fa%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C0%7C0%7C638460961413736714%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bs0nnjf4zRgWCJgUe30cwP50sMk3YVUJWCsrC4yAK8w%3D&reserved=0) 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 (https://arc-gm.nihr.ac.uk/projects/Meaningful-moments-of-connection) 3. Dr Jaheeda Gangannagaripalli - (Manchester) - Keep On Keep Up (KOKU)(https://kokuhealth.com/) (https://kokuhealth.com/)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(https://arc-gm.nihr.ac.uk/projects/Development_and_evaluation_of_a_digital_health_programme_for_falls_prevention) 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.(https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Farc-gm.nihr.ac.uk%2Fprojects%2Fphysical-activity-and-dementia&data=05%7C02%7Cjamie.stevenson%40soton.ac.uk%7C0378d44b042b48ba3ebf08dc44dc95fa%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C0%7C0%7C638460961413744004%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0uvcZmJNEOZzkQsx4dCgIp3q8T2Ba%2FdLTKHFhgDbmeM%3D&reserved=0) 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.(https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.crd.york.ac.uk%2Fprospero%2Fdisplay_record.php%3FRecordID%3D492462&data=05%7C02%7Cjamie.stevenson%40soton.ac.uk%7C0378d44b042b48ba3ebf08dc44dc95fa%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C0%7C0%7C638460961413751734%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sMqBh4%2B2w8iNhvErJkUBKe5cwlh30Wj5JxasUBor3iY%3D&reserved=0) 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(https://arc-kss.nihr.ac.uk/news/arc-kss-welcomes-nihr-funding-for-dementia-researchers) 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:(https://arc-nwl.nihr.ac.uk/research/multimorbidity-and-mental-health/arc-dementia-capacity-building-programme/meet-our-dementia-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 (https://arc-nwl.nihr.ac.uk/research/multimorbidity-and-mental-health/arc-dementia-capacity-building-programme) 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 (https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/nuno-tavares)- (Portsmouth) - Exploring the self-management process of other long-term conditions in people living with Dementia • Dr Catherine Murphy (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5xcpx6/doctor-cathy-murphy)- (Southampton) - Dementia and continence management: Supporting homecare workers • Dr Gladys Yinusa (https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/our-people/gladys-yinusa)- (Bournemouth) - TOMATO: nuTritiOn and deMentia AT hOme - Watch Gladys explain (https://vimeo.com/915909027?share=copy)- download TOMATO resources(https://app.geckoform.com/public/#/modern/21FO00fkt1c33000g4kgx5fihm) • Dr Pippa Collins (https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/podcast-profile-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(https://arc-swp.nihr.ac.uk/news/fellowships-dementia-research/)

Dr Preeti Dhuria (University of Southampton) and Professor Christina Vogel (The Centre for Food Policy, City St George’s, University of London) discuss how weak enforcement lets retailers bypass UK obesity regulations < Back Chocolate at the checkout Weak enforcement of obesity regulations is undermining public health Dr Preeti Dhuria (University of Southampton) and Professor Christina Vogel (The Centre for Food Policy, City St George’s, University of London) discuss how weak enforcement lets retailers bypass UK obesity regulations It’s far too easy to choose unhealthy options in retail stores in the UK. This isn’t just a personal challenge for citizens, it’s a public health crisis. The places we shop shape our food choices and quite frankly, the odds are stacked against us in selecting healthy food. There is a growing momentum for strong policies to rein in the aggressive promotion of unhealthy foods, and that’s a positive step. In fact, the UK government introduced a ban on placing unhealthy foods at checkouts, aisle-ends and store entrances in 2022. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it as a shopper. Our research shows there is a significant lack of resources for adequate enforcement. This situation means we still see chocolate at checkouts in some stores and alcohol at the aisle-ends in others because stores are either breaking the rules or using loopholes to continue making money at the expense of the country’s health. Regulating the food retail environment is an important part of the solution to lower levels of obesity but weak enforcement can undermine health goals. The Food (Promotion and Placement) Regulations 2021 are designed to limit the promotion of unhealthy foods in most retail stores and online equivalents in England. When 22 local government officers were asked about their approach to enforcement before the regulations came into effect, the clear narrative was that these regulations would not be robustly enforced because of a lack of staff and training. Our research showed the key obstacles to enforcing these regulations include: Staffing Constraints : There is limited capacity within local authority enforcement teams to enforce these regulations. Their scarce resources are used for immediate threats to life like knife crime rather than assessing breaches, issuing notices and processing fines for these anti-obesity regulations. Inadequate financial support: Funding constraints further hinder enforcement because only £281k in funding has been allocated across the 317 local authorities in England to support these enforcement tasks, leading to inconsistencies across regions. Minimal training: Enforcement officers are likely to rely on personal judgment and experience due to limited training and guidance on how to interpret the definitions in the regulations, leading to significant variations in the interpretation and enforcement of the rules across regions. Despite the regulations’ long-term health goals, it is clear that they are ranked as a low priority and the process of issuing infringement notices is cumbersome. This situation is leading to patchy enforcement, and businesses not being held accountable uniformly. The processes for reporting breaches are also unclear meaning even action by the public is usually difficult. A freedom of information request covering a three-month period showed that no improvement notices had been issued despite instances of non-compliance being observed. A Call for Stronger Enforcement Our research outlines actions at the national and local levels that could help to improve the level of enforcement being undertaken. National-level actions Provide adequate and dedicated funding to local authorities to recruit and allocate staff specifically for compliance assessment of these regulations. Provide centralised training and detailed guidelines for enforcement officers to ensure consistency and build confidence among enforcement teams. Streamline compliance assessments by requiring manufacturers to disclose nutrient profile scores for their products and retailers to provide key details, such as store square footage and employee count, to their local authorities. Local-level actions Instigate linkages within local authorities by supporting cross departmental activity between trading standards, environmental health and public health officers to make enforcement efficient. Raise regulations’ priority by incorporating into joint strategic needs assessment within local authorities to increase buy-ins from councillors and Directors of Public Health. Lack of enforcement compromises impact Investing in enforcement is essential to securing regulation compliance and achieving the level playing field that food businesses and public health advocates called for. Early enforcement ensures that businesses fully understand their obligations, comply with the rules, and help build a precedent for healthier retail environments. Proactive enforcement sends a clear message- the regulations are here to stay, and compliance is non-negotiable. But local authorities cannot achieve strong compliance without adequate funding and the right tools. A lack of enforcement risks being misinterpreted as a sign of regulatory failure and withdrawal of the regulations. This outcome would be detrimental to the health of British children and families. Here are a few instances recently where our research team have spotted non-compliance but do not know how to effectively report the instances, and even approaching the store manager has not led to an immediate removal of products from restricted areas. To truly make an impact, future food policies must incorporate robust enforcement strategies and dedicated funding from the outset to maximise the regulations’ impact and safeguard public health. Previous Next