Service user involvement in research : collaborating on a systematic review with young people who have experience of being in care

This study was conducted as an inquiry into the involvement of service users in research. It\ud was informed by theories of the social construction of science, which argue that knowledge\ud is dependent on those who frame, prioritise and conduct research. People with experiential\ud knowledge as opposed to those with professional training have traditionally been excluded\ud from these processes, although their experiences may differ considerably from the\ud professional judgement of it, resulting in research which is removed from the realities of\ud those whose lives it describes. This study was also informed by an argument that\ud involvement of people with experience in the field of investigation can highlight areas\ud neglected by previous research.\ud To investigate the nature of involvement and its potential, the study set up a collaborative\ud working group with young people who had all experienced being looked after by the state.\ud The young people were invited to be involved in setting the question for a systematic review\ud on a health-related topic, and to participate in all stages of the research. Qualitative data\ud was collected throughout this process, to inform a qualitative evaluation of the\ud collaboration between the researcher and the young people.\ud This thesis first provides an overview of the literature on involvement in research and a\ud description of the epistemological framework for the investigation. After presenting the\ud study design and data analysis methods of the study, it describes how the young people\ud were involved the research and presents the findings of the resulting systematic review.\ud Based on in-depth analysis of the qualitative data collected during the collaboration, it\ud considers the negative and positive impact of the involvement, on the review and on those\ud involved. Finally, it considers the quality of the systematic review and discusses how\ud consumer involvement may be optimised without compromising on the review quality

The Impact of a Public Health Crisis on the Well-Being of UK Senior Care Home Staff: A Qualitative Interview Study

Context: Care homes in the UK were hit badly by the COVID-19 pandemic, with numerous outbreaks and deaths of residents and staff. Objectives: To capture the impact of the pandemic on care home staff well-being and share insights and learning about how to optimise support for the workforce. Methods: Fifteen senior care staff from care homes looking after older people in England were interviewed between December 2020 and March 2021, when the sector was still under strict restriction measures. The topic guide was developed in consultation with care home staff. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach to identify themes and sub-themes of the impact on staff well-being. Findings: The impact of the pandemic was overwhelmingly negative, with those interviewed reporting both mental and physical health implications. We identified three themes: emotional exhaustion (upset and trauma, increased responsibility and workload, feelings of guilt); frustration (feeling misunderstood, undervalued, unrecognised, abandoned); and relationships (the importance of supportive working relationships within the care home and with external agencies). Limitations: Staff interviewed were managers or in other senior roles; it would be beneficial to synthesise this research with studies involving other care home staff and residents and their relatives. Given the disparate nature of the care home sector, a larger sample may have identified additional insights. Implications: This study provides insight into the resilience of care home staff during the pandemic and challenges to this; this could help to inform future efforts as to support of the workforce and sector

Randomised controlled trials of social interventions: report of a pilot study of barriers and facilitators in an international context

No abstract available

What do practitioners want from research, what do funders fund and what needs to be done to know more about what works in the new world of children's services?

This paper is intended as a contribution to the debate on the place of research in children's services from a funder of social research and three researchers, two of whom spent (between them) 12 years in an organisation delivering services to children and young people. We draw on two studies, the first identifying the questions to which practitioners in social care wanted answers; the second describing the degree of 'fit' between funded research and practitioners' questions. These inform a discussion of the kinds of research and research infrastructure needed to support high-quality social care services for children