Residents of care homes are amongst the frailest of our population. There are more than twice as many people living in care homes in England and Wales than there are people staying in hospital, yet we know far more about effective treatments in hospital and less about what works most effectively to improve care for older people in care homes. There are an estimated 416,000 older people living in care homes (residents) in the UK. In recent years the numbers of residents with severe frailty has risen and their care needs have become greater. There is an urgent need for high quality and co-ordinated research in care homes.
Our Care Home research group have established a strong and growing portfolio of research relevant to the residents of care homes.
Our projects include:
- A prestigious, highly cited Cochrane Review evaluating the effects of physical rehabilitation in care homes
- Development and testing of strategies to enhance physical activity in care homes (REACH)
- Posture and Mobility (Skilful Care) Training Package for Residents in Care Homes: a Cluster Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial (The PATCH Study)
- Investigation of the Delirium Observation Screening Scale for the routine detection of delirium in the Care Home Setting (The DOSS study)
- Evaluating the validity, reliability and acceptability of a Postural Assessment Tool for older people living with frailty in care homes (The HARP Study)
- Development of a tool to assess posture in bed of frail older adults, and assessment of its acceptability and validity (the HARP-B Study)
Through working on these detailed evaluations with over 30 local care homes and colleagues in the Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, we have developed expertise in methodology in this setting.
