e-Participate
Care Companion
Recruiting via General Practices in Coventry, Rugby and Warwickshire, starting January 2021; taking expressions of interest now.
Care Companion is a unique online individually tailored resource, designed for informal carers who look after family and friends with long term or life limiting conditions. It has been developed by a team from Warwick Medical School together with a panel of carers to help individuals with caring responsibilities cope with ever-changing physical, emotional and social care needs.
eTHOS: enhancing The Health Of NHS Staff
Absenteeism and presenteeism costs the NHS approximately £2.4 billion per year and is associated with worse patient outcomes.
The main causes of NHS staff absenteeism are musculoskeletal complaints and mental ill-health. Lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity and low levels of exercise leading to poor cardiovascular health are also important factors.
Forthcoming Studies/Re-opening Studies
As the CRN is able to move away from engaging in only Urgent Public Health and COVID-19 work, studies that have been put on hold during the pandemic will start to re-open and expressions of interest will be welcomed.
If any of the following studies are of interest, please contact your local research facilitator, details on the back page of the on-line version of Participate, available here.
The experiences and perceptions of older people, their carers and their general practice teams in using a 'telephone first' approach for access to appointments (OPTEL): a qualitative study
This study aims to explore the experiences and perceptions of older people and where relevant their carers, in using the ‘telephone first’ approach for access to appointments and advice.
"I suddenly felt I'd aged": a qualitative study of patient experiences of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)
Patients emphasised the profound disability experienced that was often associated with fear and vulnerability, highlighting how this was often not recognised by health care professionals.
Practice Packs
You may have seen a previous article about the Practice Pack that contains all the information you need to understand how the Clinical Research Network works with you and your staff and also to promote research generally to patients. The pack contains general research information and patient facing materials.
This is being currently being circulated. If you have not received these materials please contact your local Research Facilitator.
Research Sites Initiative Scheme
Changes to the Research Sites Initiative Scheme
After running its current format for several years, the Research Sites Initiative (RSI) scheme is now being reviewed. With the changing primary care landscape, with practices merging and new Primary Care Networks emerging, we need to ensure that any future scheme is fit for purpose and can work with all GP practices, wherever the list size.