An Inter-Professional Care Homes Research Conference Hosted by a Care Home: A Recipe for Impactful Care Homes Research
Within five minutes of attending Nightingale Hammerson’s fourth ‘Research Forum’ event, I already knew that I wanted to come back next year. This innovative one-day event was packed full of inspiring presentations from knowledgeable experts, including Gill Livingston (Professor of Psychiatry of Older People) presenting findings from her Lancet review on preventing dementia; Deborah Sturdy (Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care) talking about the role of social care nursing research; and Zena Aldridge (NIHR Social Care Nurse Fellow) describing the translation of continence research into everyday practice. But the excellent presentations were just one ingredient of a truly remarkable day focussed on generating and translating meaningful care homes research that can transform the lives of care home residents.
So what made this event so special?
First of all was the setting. When entering Hammerson house (the North London care home where the event was held), it is easy to imagine that this is a purpose built conference centre. And yet the room where the talks happened is ordinarily a place where residents engage in exercise classes, or gather for celebrations. The care home setting provided frequent reminders of what research is for, and the potential that it has to generate meaningful positive change. Situating the event within a care home also created a subtle yet important shift in power: here, the care home staff and residents benefit from the confidence and assuredness that comes from being in a comfortable and familiar environment. It is the academics who are the visitors: a useful reminder that the research journey should always begin and end in care homes, rather than in academic offices and libraries.
A second element of success was that the day was curated and chaired by the care home team. The topics of the presentations reflected issues that are important to those living and working in care homes, and the speakers were chosen for their track record of successful partnership working. In his opening address, the registered manager Clemence Muchingaguyo passionately communicated the need for care homes to keep up with the changing care landscape by engaging with relevant research findings, and ensuring that they can do their best for their residents and staff. He returned to this message when introducing each speaker, and when discussing the issues emerging from the talks. This ensured that the timely application of research to everyday practice remained at the forefront of people’s minds.
And finally, the diverse make-up of the audience enabled the organic development of productive inter-professional conversations, and new collaborative relationships. The 100 attendees in the room comprised an inspiring mix of care home staff and residents, as well as academic and clinical researchers, and other practitioners and representatives from the health and social care sector. The 70 online attendees dialled in from 18 countries, adding a valuable international perspective to the discussions. The diversity of the audience meant that the research presentations and discussions were strongly grounded in how research can and should influence everyday practice, and which issues care homes most need solutions to. Discussions over coffee and lunch also provided a fertile ground for people from different background to come together to share knowledge and learning. Bringing together such a diverse group of people, who share the common goal of improving the lives of care home residents, is key to designing needs-driven research that has the ability to transform everyday practice.
Whilst many care homes don’t have the facilities or resources to support events like this, Nightingale Hammerson’s annual Research Forum is paving the way for more, and better, needs-driven care homes research that can improve the lives of care home residents. Importantly, it is also forging a wider cultural change that will hopefully soon see research-based practice (and collaborative, practice-based research) as the norm for the social care sector.
About the author
Dr Laura Brown is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Manchester, and the current secretary and treasurer of the BSG Care Homes Research SIG. Her research focusses on supporting older people to live and age well, with a particular focus on those living in long-term residential care settings.
