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Public and Community Involvement, Engagement and Participation Resources Why involve patients and the public? PPI in research is expected for many funding streams (including the NIHR) and is a consideration made by the National Research Ethics Service when assessing applications. If PPI is not incorporated into your work, you will have to give a clear explanation of why not. It could benefit your research through: Additional expertise – this could come from having experience of the illness or simply relate to their age or demographic Ensuring the research questions are relevant and the priorities reflect the needs of those affected Improving patient experience and influencing trial recruitment and retention Assessing ethics/acceptability – helping ensure your research is conducted in a way that is sensitive to the needs and preferences of your participants Assisting with writing in lay language How could PPI help my research? Patients and the public involved in your research could: Help write and design patient literature for your participants, so they are more suitable for the reader. Comment on ethical issues associated with studies, and how they can be addressed Ensure your study is appropriately designed Get advice on how to share your findings to a wide audience, in a way the public can understand Guide the design of questionnaires to get reliable, honest data from trial participants, particularly when questions are about sensitive topics Sit on your steering committee, to provide input based on their direct experience of the topic being investigated Please see our Standard documents, templates and procedures to download the guidelines for researchers accessing any of the PPI groups and feedback form for PPI activities (for completion at the end of your PPI activity). NIHR resource links below and other helpful organisations Tips on writing a PLAIN ENGLISH SUMMARY Briefing notes for researchers - public involvement in NHS, health and social care research Payment guidance for researchers and professionals UK Standards for Public Involvement Connect with expertise Raising Voices in Research RViR (Hampshire and Isle of Wight) Public Involvement front Door You can also search for advice and tips using the NIHR Learning for Involvement search page The NIHR has a series of PPI in Action Webinars which you can watch below Aimed at researchers and public members alike, each section gives a short introduction to all elements needed to be considered for good quality PCIEP, with additional resources available for those needing more detailed information. UK Standards for Public Involvement Produced by the NIHR, this is a framework for what good public involvement in research looks like and designed to help researchers and organisations improve the quality and consistency of public involvement in health and care research. Reaching Out: Building relationships to increase research impact A report written about an online event where community groups, researchers and NIHR organisations from Kent, Surrey and Sussex came together to explore the barriers to ethnic minority group involvement in research and to consider what could be done to address these through partnership working. Learning for Involvement NIHR web pages offering Training and Resources for Public Involvement in Research. If you have any queries please email the PCIEP Team ppiesupport@uhs.nhs.uk

78e6cc7b-5ff9-411b-b288-1d82a03f0414 COMPLETED: Testing the effects of food product placement on customers’ visual attention and intended product purchases: a randomised trial in a virtual supermarket setting (Phase I) Does supermarket placement affect intention to buy healthy and unhealthy foods? Principal Investigator: Janis Baird and Christina Vogel, Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology and Principal Research Fellow in Public Health Nutrition respectively, MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, University of Southampton Team: Dr Sarah Crozier, Senior Statistician, MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, University of Southampton Sarah Jenner, Senior Research Assistant at University of Southampton Dr Sarah Muir, Senior Research Fellow, University of Southampton Professor Marcus Munafo and Dr Olivia Maynard, Bristol University Ravita Taheem, Southampton City Council, Sure Start Children’s Centres Megan Brook, Public Contributor Tiana Chadwick, Public Contributo Start date: 1 October 2019 End date: 28 February 2022 Background Poor diet has been recognised as a major contributor to the burden of non- communicable diseases in the UK and costs the NHS approximately £6 Billion annually. Most adults in England consume too much salt, saturated fat and free sugar, and do not eat the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables. Among low-income groups these trends are more extreme. Almost 90% of UK grocery sales occur within supermarkets4 and their subtle use of marketing techniques influences the food choices of an almost captive market. Women of childbearing age are an important target group to study because they remain primarily responsible for domestic food tasks such as shopping and cooking and their nutrition status influences the short and long-term health of their children. Our prior work in Hampshire showed that the diets of women with low educational attainment were more affected by less healthy supermarket environments than women with higher attainment. Shopping at less healthy discount and small supermarkets, with poorer availability, pricing and placement of healthy foods, was associated with poor dietary quality among women who left school aged 16 years but not among those with degree qualifications. UK government policy recognises that more effort is needed to develop interventions to improve health equitably and is introducing legislation on product placement initiatives to support families to make healthier food choices in supermarkets. Research using adequately powered clustered randomised controlled trials in supermarkets is limited, largely due to the complexity and large number of stores required. Evaluating changes in supermarket layout is notoriously challenging due to differing health and business agendas and randomisation at the store level requires commitment that is problematic in this highly competitive, commercial setting. Virtual supermarkets offer a viable alternative to investigate the likely impact of supermarket-based, healthy eating policy options using robust trial designs. Additionally, neuroscience techniques, such as eye-tracking, offer objective evidence that complements self-report behaviours, and facilitate a deeper understanding of the cognitive mechanisms underlying health-related behaviours. Such techniques have been used to examine how product placement facilitates customers’ visual attention, however there is a gap in understanding of how visual attention differs according to the healthfulness of products, particularly while placed in prominent in-store locations and whether visual attention differs according to customer’s socioeconomic position. This study aims to use experimental randomised trials and a virtual supermarket setting to determine differences in visual attention and intended purchase of healthy, unhealthy and non-food products placed in prominent in-store locations such as checkouts. It will also assess effect modification by educational attainment on these relationships to explore potential effects on inequalities. This is the first of two phases of research assessing visual responses to product placement. In this phase, heat mapping technology using Qualtrics software determined whether interest in and intended purchase of products in prominent in-store locations differed if the products were healthy, unhealthy or non-food items. We assessed effect modification by educational attainment to explore potential effects on inequalities. Women with young children (n=230), recruited through Sure Start Children’s Centres, early years setting and other community groups in Hampshire, undertook shopping trips in a virtual supermarket to assess whether their purchasing intentions differ if unhealthy foods, healthy foods or non-food items are placed in prominent positions (store entrances, checkouts and end of aisle). Preliminary findings indicated differences in women’s intention to buy certain types of products according to their educational attainment. Women with no educational qualifications beyond aged 16 years were intent on purchasing fewer healthy products when they were placed in prominent locations whereas those with higher educational attainment were intent on buying significantly more healthy products. A total of 230 women participated in phase I, exceeding our target sample size of 52. The study Women were shown a series of pictures representing six journeys through a supermarket. Pictures focused on the areas in a store where most shoppers usually pass through including the store entrance, end-of-aisles and checkouts. In the first three journeys, women needed to click all items they were interested in. In the last three journeys they needed to click all the items they would intend to buy if this was a real shop. Each set of journeys included a healthy journey, unhealthy journey and a non-food journey. What were the results? 201 women took part in a virtual supermarket survey. Overall, women in the study showed more interest in unhealthy products than healthy or non-food items. At checkouts, however, they did show more interest in non-food items. Women intended to buy more healthy and non-food items than unhealthy food items. On average they wanted to buy 12.9 healthy products per shop compared to 11.5 unhealthy products. What difference will this make? Unhealthy products can be interesting to women who shop at supermarkets but they have higher intentions to buy healthy and non-food items in noticeable places in stores. Supermarkets usually place unhealthy foods in noticeable places to make profits. Replacing these unhealthy foods with healthy or non-food items will just as likely, if not more successfully, lead to purchases. This can help families lead healthier lives. Why is this important for patients, health and care providers and policy makers ? Placing unhealthy foods in noticeable places can lead to impulse purchases of foods that can lead to obesity. Our study shows that women do not intend to buy these foods but may show interest in them. Since 2022, UK policy has banned the placement of some unhealthy foods at noticeable places in supermarkets. This research provides evidence that customers likely support this policy as they would like to buy healthy and non-food items from these locations. What we are going to be doing next? We wanted to further understand how attention to healthy, unhealthy and non-food items differ in noticeable places in supermarkets. We therefore ran eye-tracking experiments with 70 women in Hampshire. Data are being analysed. We plan to report the results of our survey and eye-tracking studies to policymakers (e.g. Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England) via a policy brief. We also aim to share our results with families via Sure Start Children’s Centres, Facebook and Local Schools. We have plans to share our findings at public health conferences and in an academic journal.

f1f73a06-b3fc-4e9d-b46d-0ecc2e946c91 PARIEDA - Prediction of Acute Respiratory Infection outcomes prior to Emergency Department Attendance Principal Investigator: Dr Daniel Burns, Senior Research Engineer, University of Southampton, d.burns@soton.ac.uk Team: Professor Michael Boniface, Professorial Fellow of Information Systems, University of Southampton, m.j.boniface@soton.ac.uk Professor Matthew Inada-Kim, National Clinical Director-Infection, AMR & Deterioration-NHS England & Improvement, National Clinical Lead COVID NHS@home Visiting Professor, University of Southampton Chair COVID pathways group, matthew.inada-kim@nhs.net Dr Stephen Kidd, Lead Healthcare Scientist, Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust, stephen.kidd@hhft.nhs.uk Starts: 1/4/2023 Ends: 30/9/2024 Aim: We will help community doctors and nurses decide how best to care for patients with serious respiratory illness. The right care depends on how ill a patient is and if they will get worse. Care may include home monitoring or hospital visits. We aim to use computer algorithms to help doctors and nurses make these decisions. We expect patients to avoid unnecessary trips to hospital and to feel more supported. Background: Hospitals have had record number of emergency departments visits. Respiratory infections are almost half of the visits. Many of these patients were not admitted to hospital. This means that some patients could be cared outside of the hospital in the community. COVID-19 is a serious respiratory illness. During the COVID-19 pandemic a new way to care for patients was created. Instead of patients going straight to hospital, they were assessed in the community. Only the most serious cases were then sent to hospital. Community care and assessment is now being considered for other respiratory illnesses. Approach: We will use computer algorithms to help community doctors and nurses decide which patients are at most risk of serious respiratory illness. Risk assessment will be done using machine learning. Machine learning is a way to train a computer to categorise patients into groups using data about patients and services they use. We will use historical hospital data to identify patients in high-risk groups. The patient categories will then be used to inform community decisions before attendance at hospital. Patient and Public Involvement: Patients and public have helped develop the research through evaluation pilots for community assessment hubs. PPI will influence data usage and the use of risk groupings within care pathways. Two public members will participant in a Steering Committee. A PPI Committee will organise three workshops involving ten patients and public in the research. Dissemination: Communication will engage the public and decision makers. We will work with patients and the public to design engaging communication and seek acceptance. Our results will be published and will inform national policy.

eb290c7e-cd77-4244-9d45-322994af9f69 COMPLETED ADOPTED PROJECT: Comparing pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): systematic review and network meta-analysis Chief Investigator: Professor Samuele Cortese – University of Southampton Project Team Members: Professor Andrea Cipriani – University of Oxford, Associate Professor Corentin Gosling – University of Paris Nanterre, France, Dr Luis Faraht – University of São Paulo, Brazil / Yale University Child Study Center, USA, Dr Cinzia Del Giovane – University of Modena and Reggio, Italy Project partners: Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab, National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, UK; Oxford Health National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK. Electronic address: edoardo.ostinelli@psych.ox.ac.uk . Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab, National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, UK; Oxford Health National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK. Department of Psychiatry, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab, National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, UK. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children and Adults, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; Institute of Primary Health Care, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. Psychology Services, London, UK; Department of Psychology, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland. Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Health National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK. The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Services, Edgware, UK. Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK Full team listing including PPI :O stinelli EG, Schulze M, Zangani C, Farhat LC, Tomlinson A, Del Giovane C, Chamberlain SR, Philipsen A, Young S, Cowen PJ, Bilbow A (PPI), Cipriani A, Cortese S Ended: 28th February 2024 Background: It is currently unclear how different treatment options for preschool children with ADHD compare with each other in terms of efficacy and safety. We will use data from available randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and apply an advanced and innovative statistical approach (network meta-analysis) to answer this question. What did we find out? We found that Stimulant medications and atomoxetine are the only treatments that clearly help reduce the main symptoms of ADHD in the short term, based on both what patients say and what doctors observe. However, people were less likely to stick with atomoxetine than with a placebo (a dummy pill). There was no evidence available other important things like improving quality of life, and we don’t know much about how well they work in the long run. Non-medication treatments had mixed results depending on who was doing the rating. This study gives the most complete picture so far of how different treatments for adult ADHD compare to each other. It can help guide treatment choices, but those choices should always be based on a careful look at both the benefits and risks — and on what matters most to the individual. The study is already informing clinical guidelines, e.g., the ongoing guidelines from APOSARD (USA). The study has informed a freely available platform ( https://ebiadhd-database.org/ ) that has been utilised by 15,000 colleagues around the world and improved through feedback from 1,000 stakeholders worldwide See medication and treatment ratings Next Steps To test the impact of the platform on knowledge and clinical practice To contact guideline bodies in the UK (eg NICE) and abroad to bring the network meta-analysis and the related platform to their attention. Publications Comparative efficacy and acceptability of pharmacological, psychological, and neurostimulatory interventions for ADHD in adults: a systematic review and component network meta-analysis - ScienceDirect

Nestor Serrano-Fuentes RN, PhD student and Research assistant for the Long-Term Conditions Research Group, Health Sciences, University of Southampton < Back Traveling back in time: exploring the Netley Red Cross Hospital during World War I Nestor Serrano-Fuentes Nestor Serrano-Fuentes RN, PhD student and Research assistant for the Long-Term Conditions Research Group, Health Sciences, University of Southampton November is remembered as the month in which the First World War ended; a time to remember our loved ones who fell in battle. Between 1914 and 1918, many stories unfolded: stories of life, death, love, births, feelings and emotions. Those feelings flourish today when walking through the green park and woodland at Netley on the Southampton shoreline. I look at the sea, that little orange chapel in the middle of the great esplanade, I close my eyes and visualise the protagonists of this story, talking among themselves, laughing, shouting, touching and hugging… My name is Nestor, I am a young man, nurse and researcher at the University of Southampton. Two years ago, while running on a cold winter morning along the south coast at Netley, something drew my attention. What was a lonely chapel doing here? I stopped to read some information panels and discovered that, in that place had been the Netley Hospital or Royal Victoria Hospital. According to some books, this was the largest British military hospital of all time. Furthermore, with the arrival of the war-wounded its capacity grew yet further Leading to the building of the British Red Cross Hospital just behind the main building and the recruitment of volunteers in the UK and overseas. Netley Hospital in 1918 Sister Harvey and some of the patients from 41 Hut A Japanese nurse who worked at Netley in 1918 - unnamed I needed more information and began to browse the historical archives online. Later I came across a treasure; The Netley British Red Cross Magazine . It was December and I was combing the historical archives in Winchester and there in my hands were prints of those magazines from 1918. They were filled with poems written by soldiers and nurses, cartoons, real photos and countless stories told in the first person. A few days later, I phoned my friend Elena Andina, lecturer of nursing at the University of Leon (Spain). She is a dreamer, humanist, and a person with whom I share a passion for the history of the nursing profession. I said: “You’re not going to believe what I have found! We’ve got some work to do!” We decided to read those six issues of the magazine. We were filled with great affection for the people and stories. We set about starting to analyse and contextualise the data and information, and began to write an article on the history of nursing telling the story of how care was delivered to soldiers during World War I. We were so lucky, it was like travelling in a time machine, an incomparable feeling. After a first analysis, we realised that there was a relationship between what was happening at Netley and the revolutionary thinking and ideas of Florence Nightingale, who is considered the creator of modern nursing. The focus on the environment on care - sunlight, humidity, fresh air, silence during a night shift, empathy, the smallest details that nurses took care of, such as the size of pyjamas for their patients, the use of small boats as a source of leisure for patients and nurses, are just some of the aspects that we glimpsed between those pages. Throughout history, wars and pandemics have shaped and changed the way nursing care has been delivered. If we look back, many of the measures that were applied we continue to use today. During this covid19 pandemic, the importance of open spaces and physical spaces between people, fresh air or sunlight are the same – echoes of the voices speaking from the pages of the Netley magazines in 1918. They say history tends to repeat itself, for better or for worse. What can we learn from it? Let us continue to lovingly preserve it and keep it in mind to acknowledge our ancestors and as inspiration in the search for current and future answers. Nestor Exploring The Netley British Red Cross Magazine: An example of the development of nursing and patient care during the First World War - Nestor Serrano-Fuentes& Elena Andina-Diaz (download below) serranoandina_2020_netley-hospital .pdf Download PDF • 768KB Elena Andina-Diaz - co-researcher Previous Next

93e2e1bd-cd98-479a-93a0-a105e734b0c3 ADOPTED: Exploratory research to examine the health impact of scams and fraud and the current knowledge and systems in the police and partner agencies for targeting and delivering victim support services Lead research ers: Ms Ruth Halkon and Dr Michael Skidmore, The Police Foundation; Professor Mark Button, Director of the Centre for Cybercrime and Economic Crime, University of Portsmouth; Dr Amy Meenaghan, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Portsmouth. Aims We aim to help the police find those who are most likely to suffer the worst damage to their mental and physical health from falling victim to fraud and make sure they receive the support they need to prevent that damage happening. Background Fraud is the most common and fastest growing crime in England and Wales. Many people do not report fraud and those who do often don’t receive help to reduce the crime's impact on their wellbeing. People affected by fraud can suffer serious physical and mental health problems which can lead to poor physical health, anxiety, depression and suicide. Many factors can shape how victims are affected: stress caused by losing what to them are big sums of money feeling betrayed by someone they thought was their friend or partner blaming themselves feeling friends, family and service providers do not understand them struggling to recover due to existing social or health needs. The police know less about the needs of fraud victims than victims of other crimes like domestic abuse. They are under pressure to improve the service they offer but there are many gaps: Fraud is common crime and can affect victims in many ways, which hinders finding victims who need the most support Those police think are most likely to be harmed, known as ‘vulnerable’, may not suffer the worst effects It is not clear what being 'vulnerable' in a crime context actually means Current systems to address 'vulnerability' mainly focus on cutting crime rather than victim health Research by Which? suggests the impact of fraud on victims' wellbeing amounts to £9.3bn, but we need more data Design and methods Our research will focus on two police forces who work jointly to provide support to victims which is widely seen as the best in the country. The project will focus on their systems, data and services to measure their success and produce a case study for understanding and addressing fraud's health impacts. This will be done via: Reading research papers to find out more about fraud victim impact, vulnerability and victim needs Looking at police and health and welfare data to learn about health impacts of different fraud types Talking to those working for the police, social services, victim support services and key health services Interviews with national subject matter experts Interviews with fraud victims who have been given support after fraud impacted their health to learn how this helped them Patient and public involvement Our overall aim is to involve fraud victims in finding a support framework that works for them Dissemination The report will be launched at an event and published on the Police Foundation website. It will be promoted on our blog, newsletter and social media channels. This fact finding project is a first step to creating a new framework that will be used to find those who need the most help to stop their mental and physical health being badly hit and make sure they are given it. The future project would involve: Organising roundtable events with people Bringing police, health and welfare services together to trial the framework Sharing findings and learning points across the country

18fd758f-b147-4294-acb1-07c88dc1baa9 PUNDIT – Predicting hospital Usage Numbers via a DIgital Twin Principal Investigator: Dr Carlos Lamas-Fernandez , Associate Professor in Business Analytics/ Management Science in Southampton Business School / Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton. Team : Professor Christine Currie , School of Mathematics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton. Dr Dan Burns , Innovation Centre, Electronics & Computer Science, University of Southampton. Dr Chris Duckworth , Innovation Centre, Electronics & Computer Science, University of Southampton. Professor Michael Boniface , I nnovation Centre, Electronics & Computer Science, University of Southampton. Professor Peter Griffiths , School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. Dr Mark Wright , University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Starts: 1 April, 2024 Ends : 30 September 2024 Summary Hospitals in the UK are in crisis with high levels of occupancy. The percentage of occupancy in England during July-September was 88%, and in UHS it reached 92.2% . These levels exceed the safety threshold for hospital occupancy, which sits at around 85%. Together with difficulties to ensure a smooth patient flow across the hospital, this results in adverse effects for patients: elongated hospital stays, increasing the backlog of elective procedures, increasing delays in ambulance handovers and increased mortality. In practice, hospitals try and control high occupancy levels by certain interventions, such as dedicated discharge teams, re-scheduling or cancelling elective procedures or repurposing hospital wards. These measures, however, are reactive, i.e. when the occupancy is already reaching unsafe levels, rather than proactive, that is, when anticipating a high occupancy in the near future. Further, it is not clear whether occupancy levels have an effect on treatment and discharge times, but from frontline clinicians at UHS, there is the hypothesis that higher occupancy could make them longer (as clinicians are busier prioritising the sick over the well patients who could go home), compounding the occupancy issues. Higher occupancy also decreases likelihood of patients being in the optimal location. A related research project (PROCED) has shown early evidence that frequent ward/team changes increase delays in patient discharge. The aim of this project is to investigate the feasibility and build the foundations of a simulation model that can predict accurately future, short-term, hospital bed occupancy to inform interventions. The project will have a special focus on investigating the feasibility of a model to be tailored to use in practice as a “Digital Twin” (DT), which can anticipate hospital occupancy under different scenarios, some of which can reflect proposed interventions.

Welcome ARC Wessex ran from October 2019 until March 31st 2026 - This is our legacy website The new ARC Wessex will run from 1 April 2026 until March 31st 2031 - It's website is here Over the six and a half years ARC Wessex managed to leverage £** Million in addition to the initial £14 Million awarded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research You can read about it's research impact here

Knowledge Mobilisation What is Knowledge Mobilisation (KM)? "It's about getting the right information to the right people in the right format at the right time - by actively collaborating" 1/6 These web pages are here to help share the learning our Knowledge Mobilisation Fellows are accumulating through our ARC Wessex Knowledge Mobilisation (KM) Programme. We will be developing this page into a hub of resources. Please get in touch with any questions and share your thoughts about KM via this email Click to jump to the section you want on this page KM Fellows - This is us KM Resources (in development) KM Action Learning Projects As part of a £7.8 Million investment from the NIHR in October 2024, ARC Wessex appointed a Knowledge Mobilisation team including four KM Fellows. ARC Wessex worked with Hampshire & Isle of Wight (HIoW) and Dorset Integrated Care Boards, provider organisations and Health Innovation Wessex to create a programme directly relevant to needs of patients, service users, carers and health and care systems. The programme is supported by an advisory group of stakeholders, which meets regularly and monitors the delivery of the programme’s objectives: Develop the capability of the KM fellows through increased awareness of training needs and tailored capability development programmes Deliver multiple Action Learning Projects to capture insights about KM practices and learning about what works or does not work to share more widely Develop a cohort of KM Practitioners across Wessex to support capability and capacity building with our partners and systems Actively contribute to ARC Greater Manchester national meetings and Communities of Practice to work in partnership cross-ARCs. This is us Knowledge Mobilisation Fellows Phillipa Darnton is our Implementation and Knowledge Mobilisation Lead Rachel Tobin is our Knowledge Mobilisation Programme Manager Email the team at: arcwessex@soton.ac.uk Download the Knowledge Mobilisation poster Dr Jenny Roddis is a Research Fellow and is an Associate Professor in Community Health at the University of Portsmouth Dr Nicola Andrews is a Research Fellow based in Southampton and is interested in care fo older people and frailty Dr Kate Lippiet is a Senior Research Fellow based in the School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton Mirembe Woodrow is a Senior Research Felloow in Public Health based at the School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton This is our resources and tools section We are busy creating lots of useful tools and resources for you to download and they will appear here as we develop them, so keep an eye out. Please share your thoughts of KM and/or sign up to the KM mailing list using this form Download If you like our KM umbrella above you can download the image here by clicking the box to the left Download Download - 6 Ideas about KM - Steps to Good Action Learning Projects The KM Fellows are ‘learning by doing’ and documenting their findings as Action Learning Projects. Each fellow has their own projects in which they are trialling different KM activities to learn about what works in which circumstances. This learning will help them to build KM capability and capacity within the ARC Wessex health and social care research system. Current Mental health: learning from providing support to the ARC Wessex Mental Health Hub to adopt knowledge mobilisation strategies for selected projects. Skills and knowledge: identifying the skills and knowledge needed for good knowledge mobilisation and developing a national framework for KM professionals and researchers. Co-producing clinical academic pathways in Dorset. Working with knowledge and information services across Wessex to develop a knowledge mobilisation community of practice Mapping what influences decision-making and use of evidence in residential care and home care. Supporting care home staff to understand the current evidence base on dehydration risk assessment and apply this to the care home setting, with development of resources to support staff in this setting undertake robust evidence reviews. Completed Working with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Partnership to develop and deliver a research assembly. Understanding research priorities for care home and home care providers in Wessex.

b45fdd12-d569-4bd5-a0c4-1547cfa6f910 PARTNERS II: Testing implementation and evaluation of a digital tool for multisectoral support and management of people living with Parkinson’s disease and/or arthritis. Chief investigators: Professor Mari Carmen Portillo, Professor of Long Term Conditions, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. Dr Dorit Kunkel, Lecturer, University of Southampton and Research Design Service, School of Health Sciences Team: Dr Katherine Bradbury Health Psychologist, Senior Research Fellow NIHR ARC Wessex Digital Health Lead University of Southampton. Dr Lindsay Welch, Associate Professor of Nursing Practice, Bournemouth University & University Hospitals Dorset Sandra Bartolomeu Pires, PHD Researcher, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. Professor Christopher Edwards, Consultant Rheumatologist, Honorary Chair of Clinical Rheumatology, Associate Director Southampton NIHR Clinical Research Facility, University Hospital Southampton (NHS) University of Southampton. Dr Lindsey Cherry, Associate Professor (Podiatry Rheumatology), School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. Francesca White, Senior Strategic lead for Partnerships, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated care board. Dr Hayden Kirk, Clinical Director Adults Southampton, Solent NHS Trust ( Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust) Caroline Aylott, Head of Research, Versus Arthritis, Carolyn Fitton, Senior Research Assistant, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. Gillian Merritt, Service Improvement Manager, Parkinson’s UK. Peter Rhodes, Senior Programme Manager, Industry & Innovation, Health Innovation Wessex. Partners: University of Southampton, Bournemouth University & University Hospitals Dorset, Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust, NIHR Clinical Research Facility, University Hospital Southampton, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated care board, Versus Arthritis, Parkinson’s UK, Health Innovation Wessex. Start: 1 October 2024 End: 30 November 2025 Summary Self-management can help people with long term conditions manage their health better. Existing self-management tools focus on healthcare (medication management, appointments) and fail to understand how people live with and adjust to their long-term conditions. This includes social support (family/friends) and other resources and networks available like the voluntary sector, industry and community groups. We have created an intervention (an action to improve a situation or prevent it getting worse) to support self-management for people with Parkinson’s Disease and/ or Arthritis and their family/carers. This intervention recognises the role of social support, charities and other organisations in adjusting to living with a condition. Based on previous study findings where we looked at the literature and talked to patients and health care professionals, we co-produced a digital tool website/app ready for testing. Aim of the research: To explore the acceptability (ease of use) and how helpful the tool is in supporting self-management by collecting data and by talking to patients and carers who have used it and health care workers. The PARTNERS tool will support professionals and other organisations to connect, share resources and optimise communication and referrals, leading to more personalised and cost-effective use of resources (beyond healthcare) in the community. Design and methods: Mixed methods acceptability and implementation study. The research will take place in community settings in Wessex. We will prioritise disadvantaged groups (those less comfortable using technology and less able to access available resources and support). We will test the PARTNERS tool with patient, carers, health professionals and voluntary organisations (Parkinson’s UK and Versus Arthritis). Testing will help understand how the tool is used and what helps or hinders its success. We will talk to people who used it to identify how useful and helpful it was and how to integrate it with their normal care. The research will support better self-management of Parkinson’s Disease and/or Arthritis, make recommendations for policy development and provide evidence for how to improve NHS services. PPI: We are working with people with Parkinson’s Disease and/or Arthritis and their families/carers. We will work together as equal partners to decide their level of involvement, roles, ways to input and training needs. We will also explore what works best or what we should do differently in their involvement. Dissemination: We will share our learning across the different groups involved. This will include presentations, policy briefings, newsletters and public events.

Professor Lee-Ann Fenge - lfenge@bournemouth.ac.uk Dr Andy Pulman – apulman@bournemouth.ac.uk < Back Realities of adult social care recruitment and retention World Social Work Day 2024 Professor Lee-Ann Fenge - lfenge@bournemouth.ac.uk Dr Andy Pulman – apulman@bournemouth.ac.uk Social Work Week is an opportunity to celebrate the value that social work brings to society as well as acknowledging the challenges the profession faces. The theme of World Social Work Day is ‘Buen Vivir: shared Future for Transformative Change’, calling for social workers to adopt innovative, community-led approaches that are grounded in indigenous wisdom and harmonious coexistence with nature. This is an important focus as we recover in a post-COVID world, where budgets continue to be constrained and social workers increasingly draw on their creativity and innovative practice to provide excellent support for those they work with. To transform practice, it is important that we build an evidence base of what works and why, developing social work and social care research that evidences the value of the approaches taken. To date social work has lacked an established culture of research within social care organisations, resulting in limited high-quality research evidence alongside a limited culture of staff development focused on research opportunities. Practitioners may wish to develop a practitioner-researcher focus to their work, but this is often not supported or developed by their employer. This results in a missed opportunity to develop ground-up inclusive research practice driven by the insights and priorities of practitioners and service users which is essential to underpin high quality care. Within the Wessex region, we have been working to support the development of social care research over the past few years. In 2022, we completed a year-long study examining social care research enablers and barriers which might prevent or limit a positive research environment for practitioners (Pulman and Fenge, 2023). This built the foundation for four projects across Wessex funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Wessex – which all aimed to build research partnerships across local authorities (LAs) and universities in the region. As part of these projects, separate funding was available to support research champions embedded within local authorities, to support activities such as lunch time research discussions, journal clubs and the development of practitioner focused research. To encourage buy-in from the LAs we developed research in partnership with them to respond to key priority areas. One such project explored local recruitment and retention issues in adult social care (ASC) from the perspective of four populations of interest collecting data from n=131 participants across the four populations of interest: ( POI 1 ) Social care practitioners - social workers, allied health professionals, unregistered and other social care practitioners - currently working in adult social care at two local authorities (LAs) ( POI 2 ) Social care staff with responsibility for performing exit interviews with LA staff currently working at the two LAs ( POI 3 ) Students currently enrolled in social work undergraduate and postgraduate programmes within the Wessex region ( POI 4 ) Service users with lived experience of receiving services in either LA and advocates drawn from Wessex Region LA contracted services Realities of retention So what does our data tell us about the day-to-day realities of people currently working within adult social care? What pressures are they currently experiencing and what might make them question whether they want to stay working within the profession? Within POI 1, n=97 practitioners working in adult social care at two local authorities completed our online survey on recruitment and retention with n=25 subsequently being interviewed. We found: Within next three years, n=17 (17.5%) were planning on leaving social care Career change decisions included changing area of practice, independent working, moving sectors to the NHS/Third Sector and leaving the profession to go to other employment – the biggest response at n=7 (41.2%) The most important reasons for those wanting to leave social care within the next three years were ranked by number of responses and the highest ranked themes were then corroborated within the data collected from all participants as being ongoing issues of concern for LAs. Below we reflect on a number of the challenges, pressures and demands on ASC at the moment. Demands of administrative tasks Participants described support posts being reduced, causing them to spend more time on administerial processes. Additionally, more time-consuming paperwork was required and constantly changing processes created ongoing frustration. Workload demand The increasing demands on roles in terms of a rising number of cases within LAs and subsequent increased caseloads caused immense pressure on being able to process work in a timely manner. Inadequate staffing levels Staffing levels in some teams was not deemed to be adequate. Inadequate pay and benefits Pay was often equated to a lack of value in the profession when compared to other health professionals. Pay was viewed frequently as being less than equivalent to what could be obtained in the retail sector (with a view of that work also being less stressful in comparison). Concerns were also raised about the use of agency staff by LAs and the pay discrepancies between agency and permanent posts, alongside additional impacts on continuity and team stability. Perceived rationing of/limited resources for service users Struggles to provide adequate services to service users was a continual source of frustration in the face of current budgetary pressures. This could also be apposite to the personal ethics of working within the sector. Isolation/too much working from home The effects of hybrid working was viewed positively or negatively, depending upon the individual. Positives included the ability to concentrate more, better productivity with less interruptions and the inherent flexibility of choosing where and when an individual worked. Negatives included feelings of isolation and lack of support - a particular risk for new entrants. A lack of a team culture was also described in some cases. Additionally, management seemingly became more distant in some instances. Poor support and induction for newly qualified staff The induction process was viewed as being inconsistent across LAs. Providing initial support for new staff can be complicated by the effects of hybrid working, limiting support and team building opportunities for new entrants. Suggestions for improving consistency included mentoring, shadowing and standardising the structural induction process. Stress and COVID-19 burnout Stresses caused by working in the sector and lowered resilience over a prolonged period of time could contribute to burnout. Stress caused by the nature of the job was mentioned by a number of participants. COVID-19 and post pandemic effects contributing to stress were noted. This also impacted on staff working from home during and after this period. Stress was also caused by the ethical challenges of working within the constraints of the current social care system. Office environment/hot-desking issues As with hybrid working, both the pros and cons of attending the office were discussed by participants – with travel and parking costs described as factors which might influence office attendance. There was an acknowledgement that hub office space had been lost since the pandemic, which some thought had been detrimental. Both home and work environments had their supporters, depending on working preferences. For some, the office was preferred for providing deeper and broader opportunities for networking and helping to build a positive team culture. Open plan offices could be a problem due to their nature – be it issues of noise, a lack of privacy and storage space in some cases. Also a lack of locations to debrief or chat in private. Hot-desking could also prevent a team culture from developing. Next Steps Social Work England’s State of the Nation report (2023) suggested that high demand for health and care services, a rising complexity of needs and increases in vacancies continues to put pressure on a system that is already stretched. Workforce challenges around the recruitment and retention of staff alongside increased reliance on agency social workers constantly proves challenging for employers. Although social workers are adaptable and innovative in the ways they deliver social work, ultimately pressure in the system can undermine the stability of relationships which can have a direct bearing on people’s care (Social Work England, 2023). Similarly, Skills for Care (2021) concluded that a well-led, supported and developed ASC workforce were more likely to stay in post and deliver consistent, high quality, personalised care. Conversely, a workforce that was under-funded, under-developed, suffering from poor wellbeing and not supported to advocate for themselves and the people they cared for was likely to result in poor care or worse. Our research highlights that unless employers, and the government, recognise the current concerns of front-line practitioners, recruitment and retention will continue to be a challenge. Addressing these concerns, alongside wider consideration of career paths that may include the opportunity for research engagement for practitioners, is essential to stem the tide. Thanks to: The authors wish to thank all participants who took part in the online survey and gave up their time to be interviewed. This work was supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Wessex More information on our project: Professor Lee-Ann Fenge - lfenge@bournemouth.ac.uk Dr Andy Pulman – apulman@bournemouth.ac.uk https://nccdsw.co.uk/clusters/research/building-research-capacity-in-social-care https://www.arc-wx.nihr.ac.uk/research-areas-list/social-care%3A-local-authority-adult-social-care-recruitment-and-retention-research-project Further viewing: Pulman, A. 2024. NIHR ARC Wessex Social Care Lunchtime Seminar – Realities of adult social care recruitment and retention in 2023 References: Pulman, A. and Fenge, L. A. (2023) Building Capacity for Social Care Research - Individual-Level and Organisational Barriers Facing Practitioners. The British Journal of Social Work. bcad117). Skills for Care. (2021). Evidence review and sector consultation to inform Skills for Care strategy: Final sector report. Available from: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/resources/documents/Adult-social-care-workforce-data/Evidence-review-and-consultation-analysis.pdf (accessed February 22, 2024). Social Work England (2023) Social work in England: State of the nation 2023. Available from: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/about/publications/social-work-in-england-state-of-the-nation/ (accessed February 29, 2024). Previous Next

Justin Strain < Back Thinker, sailor, author, physio Justin's journey so far.. Justin Strain Justin Strain I began my healthcare career a little later than most. At the age of thirty, after a short career in the Royal Navy, I took my first steps into the University of Southampton’s School of Health Professions. I was interested in research from day one. The importance of evidenced-based practice was drummed into us throughout our time at university. From the moment we first wielded a tendon hammer or a stethoscope we were encouraged to ask ourselves those all-important questions: What is the best treatment? Does it work? Why am I doing this? Starting out as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist, I threw myself into clinical practice, desperate to learn every treatment technique and test I could get my hands on. I believed that being a great clinician was about perfecting those tricky manual techniques and learning everything there was to know about anatomy. Or so I thought. Thinking differently Later, as I developed in confidence, I began to think differently about my practice. It seemed to me that what made most difference to my patients was the therapeutic relationship. Understanding the patient’s experience and learning to listen more and communicate better (and sometimes talk less!) started to seem more important than having the biggest toolbox of treatment techniques. Specialising in pain management helped me to appreciate how peoples’ experiences of health-conditions and healthcare were shaped by a complex web of social and personal interactions, making each person’s experience unique to them.The need to understand these unique experiences drew me to qualitative research. I wanted to go further than comparing different interventions. I wanted to understand the stories of the people at the heart of those interventions – our patients. The importance of narrative was not new to me. In my non-clinical life, I write children’s novels – I’ve written two so far and I’m working on a third. In my novel writing, I enjoy the magic of exploring fictional worlds from other peoples’ perspectives. I’ve always found that what brings a novel to life is the personal connection between the reader and the characters. I wanted to apply a similar approach to understanding patients’ stories - listening to, understanding and recording other peoples’ perspectives, and acknowledging the role of the researcher and the reader in interpreting those perspectives. While I was taking my first tentative steps towards qualitative research, the world of healthcare research was changing. The n=1 campaign was gathering momentum, and recognition of qualitative research was increasing. I wanted to get more involved, and found myself looking for the right opportunity. Then, at the beginning of 2020, the world turned upside down with the advent of the COVID 19 pandemic. Along with many other things, the COVID 19 situation has highlighted the need for research – to explore the impact of immediate responses to the crisis, and also to understand how the pandemic will influence longer term changes in how healthcare is delivered. One of those long-term changes is likely to be the proliferation of online healthcare. The plethora of online health interventions now on offer enables people to access consultations and courses that might previously not have been available to them, in a safe, socially distant way. I felt this area was worthy of more exploration, and I wanted to listen to the stories of service users, to understand how these changes had impacted on their experiences. I resolved to start a research project looking at patients’ experiences of online pain management in our own service, but I was struggling to find the time - alongside a busy job in clinical practice, dealing with redeployment and the current challenges of COVID 19, and being dad for our two wonderful children. The NIHR ARC Wessex Clinical Academic Internship has given me that time. It has enabled me to build and apply my skills in research as part of my clinical job, making a difference to how I can support patients within my service. So where am I now? I am in the early stages of my project – a systematic review of qualitative literature about patients’ experiences of online pain management, combined with semi-structured interviews with patients who have completed the online pain management programme within our own service.As well as time, the Clinical Academic Internship has provided a network of similarly minded people, interested in research and qualitative exploration of issues. The excellent events run by NIHR ARC Wessex have introduced me to new research concepts and skills. My supervisors, Dr Euan Sadler and Dr Lindsay Welch , have been extremely supportive and with their help my skills and confidence are growing. I am planning to complete my project in Autumn this year and I am hopeful that this will lead on to a pre-doctoral, and eventually a doctoral fellowship with NIHR ARC Wessex in the future. Dr Euan Sadler is an Associate Clinical Professor of Older People and Frailty within Health Sciences at the University of Southampton. Dr Lindsay Welch is a Lecturer in Adult Nursing and a Researcher in long term conditions. Previous Next