A researcher's perspective
Cardiff University
Researchers at Cardiff University explored stakeholders’ views about the ethical and practical challenges associated with recruiting care home residents into research studies. Important lessons and considerations to take into account are detailed from this study, using interviews with care home residents, their relatives, and general practitioners, and focus groups with care home staff.
Interviews focused on the issues of older adults consenting to research in care homes, including advanced consent, in general and through reference to a particular study on the use of probiotics to prevent Antibiotic Associated Diarrhoea.
Data were analysed using a thematic approach incorporating themes that had been identified in advance, and themes derived from the data. Researchers discussed evidence for themes, and reached consensus on the final themes. Read the full research paper.
Swansea University
Caitlin Reid, BSc in Psychology from the University of Reading and an MSc in Psychiatry from Cardiff University, started a PhD at the Centre for Innovative Ageing in July 2016. The research ‘Understanding and Improving the Mental Well-being of Older Adults in Residential Care’ is funded by the Healthcare Management Trust and supervised by Dr Charles Musselwhite and Dr Michael Coffey.
Read about Caitlin's experience carrying out research in Care Homes and some lessons learned along the way.
Bangor University
Dr Carys Jones holds a PhD in Health Economics from Bangor University. After completing her PhD on quality of life measurement for family carers of people with dementia, Carys has remained at the Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation (CHEME) and has worked on several projects aligned to her primary research interests of dementia and aging.
Read about Carys's experience in planning research in Care Homes and some lessons learned along the way.