My PhD research My research aims to inform guidelines about the provision of CCTV in publicly owned care homes. My PhD study is currently investigating the role of international standards and domestic legislation concerning the right to privacy and safety of residents. I was initially interested in this topic because of the role that covert…
Introduction Care home residents are often living with conditions such as dementia or stroke that may affect their ability to communicate or to make decisions. When it comes to research, this can mean they find it difficult to understand information about a study and provide consent if they wish to take part. This can lead…
The PREACH (Prioritising Research through Engagement with Older Adult Care Homes) study was designed to systematically capture and prioritise research uncertainties that matter most to key stakeholders in care homes, including residents, staff, and family members. A crucial factor in reaching over 1,000 participants was our collaboration with the Enabling Research in Care Homes (ENRICH)…
Introduction Marlene Kelly was the Registered Manager at Auburn Mere Care Home from 2006 to 2024. More recently, she has become increasingly involved in research, now dividing her time equally between research and practice. In this blog, Marlene reflects on her experiences of working with researchers, sharing what has worked well in these collaborations and…
It’s a joy to see that care home research has become an increasingly common topic at the British Society of Gerontology’s annual conference. This year’s event (held at the University of Surrey in June) was no exception, with topics ranging from how to support people moving into care homes; the impact of laundry practices on…
Over many years, we have had the privilege of visiting and working within a wide variety of residential care homes, referred to in some countries as long-term care institutions (LTCIs). Dr. Manuela Hödl, based in Austria, has a unique position as a care home ‘researcher in residence’ one day a week for 5 years, thanks…
Ensuring that care homes are safe, inclusive, and affirming spaces for people with dementia who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, or have other marginalised sexual orientations and gender identities (LGBTQ+) is more urgent than ever. As transphobia and discrimination rise across the UK, the experiences of LGBTQ+ residents—particularly trans and nonbinary individuals—often remain overlooked…
Before embarking on my undergraduate nursing studies, I worked for several years in a nursing home within my local community. I have always had a vested interest in neurological conditions following my first band 5 post within acute stroke and medicine. I am now into my second year as a PhD researcher at Queen’s University…
Throughout my experience as a post-doctoral researcher and a registered nurse in various care homes, I have noticed that many care home residents rarely go outside, and that some are prescribed vitamin D supplements in order to compensate for their minimal exposure to sunlight. Thus, while most of us will be hoping to make the…
In November 2024, we welcomed Dr Michelle Heward (Bournemouth University) and Dr Patrick Stark (Queen’s University Belfast) to speak at our autumn symposium on Technology in Care Homes. Over 100 people attended the symposium, highlighting what an important and timely issue this is for those who support care home residents. Technology for supporting interactions with…
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…
Research, evidenced based practice and maintaining continuous professional development is essential for Allied Health Professionals working in care homes. Whilst there are clear benefits which support our clinical practice and outcomes with the people we work with, it can also be daunting for clinicians who are not immersed in the world of research full-time. I…
Despite the many known challenges that vulnerable older people can face when living in their own homes, moving into long-term residential care is often considered to be a last resort, and care homes are certainly not seen as places where older people are expected to flourish. At My Home Life England (part of City St…
As a Community Research Nurse, I’m passionate about making research accessible outside of formal NHS settings, making it easier and more convenient to take part. My background is in District Nursing so I also know how much people value getting care in their own homes and the extra insights you can gain when they feel…
I recently attended my first British Society of Gerontology (BSG) Annual Conference. It was an in-person three-day event, hosted by Newcastle University. At the conference I was invited to present a poster based on our recent literature review and also our care home research study findings (EHCH Study) at a Care Home SIG Symposium. Both…
On Thursday 2nd May, over 50 people joined us for our online spring symposium. This eagerly-anticipated session focussed on how health and social care staff could increase their knowledge, skills, and understanding when providing care and support to care home residents. Describing competencies for the medical care of residents, addressing challenges of training GPs and…
Co-Authors: Leon Geffen and Gabby Kelly. Until recently, there were relatively few long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in low and middle-income countries. But since the turn of the century, there has been a rapid increase and South Africa contained at least 1,150 LTCFs at the start of the pandemic (Mahomedy, 2021). With colleagues from Mexico and…
Lots of people live in care homes – as many as 360,000 people in 2022. The large majority of people living in care homes move in during later stages of their lives. Approximately 82% of people living in a care home are aged 65+ years old and approximately 10% are aged 85+ years old1. People…
Mealtimes are a fundamental part of life Spend a moment thinking about some of the major events in your life, or those close to you – maybe a wedding, a big birthday, retirement, a baby’s christening. Almost certainly, these events will have been celebrated by eating, or drinking, or probably both. And now imagine if…
An overview of care home provision internationally Worldwide, the number of care homes providing care for older people is increasing as our populations age, becoming frailer and requiring increased support with activities of daily living. In many countries, care homes are non-existent and so the responsibility falls on families. Where care home systems exist, there…
Combining roles: being a health & social care professional and a researcher As a registered health and social care professional and postdoctoral researcher I have often combined providing care to care home residents while also conducting research on this care. Much of this research role has involved evaluating the implementation of art-based interventions within care…
In this blog post, we would like to introduce our NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) funded study: CHAPPI. CHAPPI stands for Care Homes and Activity Providers for Public Involvement in Research. In this project, we want to understand how care home Activity Providers (also known as activity organisers, well-being coordinators, recreational officers,…
This blog post has been five years in the making. I first attempted to write about my experiences of supporting my nan, Ann, back in 2018. At the time, she had recently fallen and fractured her hip. And, although she had undergone surgery, she was struggling to regain the ability to walk. Prior to her…
Recent attention has focused on developing social care research and encouraging more social care staff to do research. This has prompted me to set out my journey from care assistant to researcher. I currently work at the University of East Anglia (UEA) as a Research Fellow, but my employment journey started somewhere very different. After…
There are no shortages of challenges in the care home sector just now, with memories of the pandemic impact fresh and often painful, in addition to staffing issues and financial pressures. However, this comes with great opportunities for taking part in care homes research, as there is now more interest in the sector than ever…
Why is dehydration a concern? Low-intake dehydration, which is caused by people not drinking enough, has been linked with lots of health problems, including headaches, falls, dizziness, kidney problems, memory problems, pressure sores and diabetes. Low-intake dehydration increases someone’s risk of going into hospital, and if someone is dehydrated on admission to hospital, they are…
For the first time in three years, the British Society of Gerontology (BSG) Annual Conference was an in-person three-day event, held at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. The conference involved a series of research talks and posters that describe a variety of issues relating to ageing and older people. There was a buzz…
At Nightingale Hammerson, we have been working with multiple researchers over the past few years. Researchers are our ‘critical friends’. They see what we do, how we do it, and ask us why we do what we do. This offers a great opportunity to reflect on our day to day practice and challenge ourselves to…
Welcome! This is our first blog for the British Society of Gerontology (BSG) Care Homes Research Special Interest Group (SIG). So, we will recap who we are and what we do. This group brings together academics, practitioners, and other stakeholders with a common interest in care homes research with the aim of strengthening research, policy,…
