'Research by and for the Allied Health Profession: playing to our strengths'

Building capacity for researchinto complex interventions

PLAYING TO OUR STRENGTHS

Gail MountainProfessor of Applied Dementia Research

4 March 2016 SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY1

What are our strengths?


My listInvolved in interventions designed to enable well being e.g. independence/self management/ participation

Understanding of these complex interventions within systems of service delivery

Partnerships with end users of services and other practitioners

Practical, hands on, collaborative, trained in research


Some of the current priorities for health/ social care policy and research (aside from cure)• Prevention of long term conditions/ co-morbidities

across the life course e.g. prevention of dementia

• Self management of long term conditions across the life course e.g. obesity in childhood and adulthood

• Delay/ better management of morbidity in the extended lifespan e.g. frailty, end of life


More priorities• The social movement in health, social care and

communities e.g. mobilisation of community resources (Vanguards), dementia friendly communities

• Digitalisation of health, social care and communities e.g. telehealth, telecare, robotics

• Importance of design and environment e.g. urban living partnerships


There is a focus upon….• Psychosocial /non medical interventions

• Embedding techniques into interventions to promote and sustain behaviour change

• System change towards self management

• Secondary, tertiary and community services

• Voice of the public/ end user


Some of the infrastructures to foster and support allied health research• CLAHRCs – translational research, capacity building

• NIHR career trajectory for clinical academics

• CAPHR and other forums and groups

• Specific calls for complex intervention research etc etc


A research agenda that could have been designed by allied health and with support to get involved

The culture and environment has changed significantly

Allied health researchers are a highly valued resource

But I still hear people say that that they feel unsupported

Why??


How to get involvedMake yourself known to other researchers, local and national policy, ‘movers and shakers’

Seek employment and/ or roles that enable networking and collaboration

(In my case R&D officer for COT)

Follow trends; find out what is happening, research priorities and who is doing what

Review publications & conference paperskeep abreast of research policyTake opportunities to be on funding committees

Get a research focus but do not allow this to be limiting - maintain an open mind

In my case the focus has been ageing research, but this has spanned technology, healthy ageing, dementia, design…..

4 March 2016 SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY 9

How else to get involvedTake measured risks and/ or manage uncertainty

For example opportunities to get involved in managed programmes, sandpits, secondments, fellowships… In my case my big break was through an EPSRC managed research programme

Learn from rejections/ mistakes For example lessons from my early involvement in research funded through the third sectorRejections always outweigh success – learn to be tough

Maintain an aura of confidence Even when it feels difficult; for example my involvement in HTA commissioning…..


Back to the research agendaNeed to exploit expertise in complex interventions; • Defining• Manualising • Exploring feasibility in practice


Use understanding of how interventions fit into the whole system

Mainstreaming assisted living technologies (MALT project; lessons learnt

Clinicians are end-users of remote care technologies….

more at; http://malt.group.shef.ac.uk/staff-adoption/key-messages.


http://malt.group.shef.ac.uk/staff-adoption/key-messages

http://malt.group.shef.ac.uk/staff-adoption/key-messages

Use knowledge of how to maintain the end user at the heart of what we do including researh

• https://whichmeamitoday.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/research-meeting-in-sheffield/


CopyrightCathy Greenbalt

https://whichmeamitoday.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/research-meeting-in-sheffield/

https://whichmeamitoday.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/research-meeting-in-sheffield/

Thank you

[email protected]

4 MARCH 2016 SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY14

'Research by and for the Allied Health Profession: playing to our strengths'

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