Category: Academy (blue)

Evaluation in Public Health and Care, Level 2 – Tuesday 5th November 2019; 09:00 – 17:00

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Are you tasked with carrying out or commissioning an evaluation, but would appreciate guidance on what questions to ask, what outcomes to look for, or how to plan for an evaluation?

This one day, hands-on workshop, run by the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames Academy, addresses these challenges. It is aimed at staff from NHS Trusts, CCGs and Local Authorities. By attending, you will gain expert tips on how to design an effective evaluation, and have opportunities to consult with other delegates and facilitators about information directly related to planning your evaluation.

Having attended the course, delegates will broadly be able to:

  • Develop an evaluation question
  • Apply a logic models and programme theory to address their evaluation questions and identify evaluation outcomes
  • Design a plan for conducting or commissioning an evaluation

This workshop is suitable for staff from NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and CCGs. It is not aimed at academic and/or researchers. Delegates should attend the course with an evaluation in mind. They should have previously attended our “Introduction to Evaluation” course (in person or online). As part of the course, some pre-programme preparation (approximately 3 hours) will be required.

All delegates will receive a certificate of attendance.

Cost – This course is free for staff working in NIHR CLAHRC North Thames partner organisations (please click here to see a list of our partners). There is a delegate fee of £250 for other attendees.

Registration – Please complete the registration form and email to clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk by 5pm, 30 August 2019.

Please note, a cancellation fee of £100 will be charged to both partner and non-partner delegates in the event of non-attendance without notice after 5pm, Tuesday, 29th October 2019.

For more information please contact clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk

Becoming Research Active: 27th November 2019; 9am – 5pm.

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Are you a nurse, allied health professional, public health or local government member of staff who is interested in research or who has had some exposure to research?  Our workshop is suitable for staff from NHS Trusts, CCGs, and Local Authorities who are keen to become involved in research.

Engaging in research is a great way to address the questions that often arise in health care.  It can also play a vital role in producting new evidence and new knowledge for decision-making to improve health care.

This one day, practical workshop provides an introduction to the research process to enable NHS and local government staff to engage in research activity.  The course is run by the CLAHRC North Thames Academy, together with the Research Design Service London (east London arm) and Clinical Research Network North Thames.

This introductory level course is a first step on the journey towards becoming “research active”, either by developing your own small project or getting involved in other ways e.g. collaborating on research studies, assisting clients / patients in your care to take part in research, being a (critical) research ‘consumer’ or helping to shape research priorities, design and delivery.  We ask that participants attend the workshop with a research idea, innovation, or change that they would like to plan for, or collaborate on with researchers.

By the end of the course participants will:

  • Understand the research process, including the principles behind good research design and planning for dissemination and impact
  • Understand the different roles within a research team and identify the points at which you can become involved
  • Be able to apply criteria to judge the potential value and feasibility of a research project idea
  • Have a basic understanding of research governance and ethics requirements, and know where to find out more
  • Know how to involve patients and the public in every stage of research, and understand how it could benefit the research
  • Know how to access relevant resources or the help available across North Thames to design, plan and fund research

This workshop is not aimed at academics and/or researchers.

*e.g. you might have done a Masters level module in collecting and analysing data, or critical appraisal of research, or have helped to support research in your organisation or attended another one of our Academy courses.

All participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

Cost – This course is free for staff working in NIHR CLAHRC North Thames partner organisations (a list of our partners is available on our website). There is a delegate fee of £250 for other attendees.

Venue – Central London

Registration – Please complete the registration form and email to clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk by 5pm, Monday 20th September 2019.

Please note, a cancellation fee of £100 will be charged to both partner and non-partner delegates in the event of non-attendance without notice after 5pm on 20th November 2019.

For more information please contact clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk

What adaptations are needed to deliver psychological therapies in inpatient settings?

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Psychological therapies (sometimes referred to as ‘talking therapies’) offer a chance for patients to explore difficulties in a safe and confidential setting. The therapy is delivered by a qualified professional, working in partnership with a patient to help them better understand feelings that arise from their past experiences, and attitudes towards them. Evidence suggests these therapies can make a big impact on psychiatric patients current and future wellbeing. However, they are a challenge to deliver in inpatient environments due to the short-term nature of many inpatients’ stay, added to the complex needs they often present with.

Dr Lisa Wood is a Care Pathway Lead Psychologist at North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) as well as a Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Essex. Dr Wood spent a year with the CLAHRC as part of a Fellowship funded by HEE NCEL to hone her research skills and develop research interests in her specialist area – understanding the lived experience of psychosis from a service user perspective.

In newly published research, Lisa explored the adaptations required to deliver psychological therapies to this population from the perspective of inpatient psychological practitioners. Through interviews with inpatient psychological practitioners, Dr Wood and her research team sought the adaptations required to deliver psychological interventions in this context.

Read the paper

Qual Health Res. 2019 Apr 23:1049732319843499. doi: 10.1177/1049732319843499
Psychologists’ Perspectives on the implementation of Psychological Therapy for Psychosis in the Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Setting.
Wood L Williams C Billings J Johnson S
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31014190

 

Becoming Research Active: 26th June 2019; 9am-5pm

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Are you a nurse, allied health professional, public health or local government member of staff who is interested in research or who has had some exposure to research?  Our workshop is suitable for staff from NHS Trusts, CCGs, and Local Authorities who are keen to become involved in research.

Engaging in research is a great way to address the questions that often arise in health care.  It can also play a vital role in producting new evidence and new knowledge for decision-making to improve health care.

This one day, practical workshop provides an introduction to the research process to enable NHS and local government staff to engage in research activity.  The course is run by the CLAHRC North Thames Academy, together with the Research Design Service London (east London arm) and Clinical Research Network North Thames.

This introductory level course is a first step on the journey towards becoming “research active”, either by developing your own small project or getting involved in other ways e.g. collaborating on research studies, assisting clients / patients in your care to take part in research, being a (critical) research ‘consumer’ or helping to shape research priorities, design and delivery.  We ask that participants attend the workshop with a research idea, innovation, or change that they would like to plan for, or collaborate on with researchers.

By the end of the course participants will:

  • Understand the research process, including the principles behind good research design and planning for dissemination and impact
  • Understand the different roles within a research team and identify the points at which you can become involved
  • Be able to apply criteria to judge the potential value and feasibility of a research project idea
  • Have a basic understanding of research governance and ethics requirements, and know where to find out more
  • Know how to involve patients and the public in every stage of research, and understand how it could benefit the research
  • Know how to access relevant resources or the help available across North Thames to design, plan and fund research

This workshop is not aimed at academics and/or researchers.

*e.g. you might have done a Masters level module in collecting and analysing data, or critical appraisal of research, or have helped to support research in your organisation or attended another one of our Academy courses.

All participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

Cost – This course is free for staff working in NIHR CLAHRC North Thames partner organisations (a list of our partners is available on our website). There is a delegate fee of £250 for other attendees.

Venue – Central London

Registration – Please complete the registration form and email to clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk by 5pm, Friday 26th April 2019.

Please note,a cancellation fee of £100 will be charged to both partner and non-partner delegates in the event of non-attendance without notic after 5pm on 19th June 2019.

For more information please contact clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk

NIHR CLAHRC North Thames funded PhD studentships launched

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NIHR CLAHRC North Thames is now recruiting to its 2019 PhD studentships. NIHR CLAHRC North Thames is funded to conduct high quality applied health research, focused on the needs of patients and the public to produce a direct impact on health and the way health care and public health is organised and delivered.

Led by Professor Rosalind Raine (UCL), we are a collaboration of 50+ partners, including leading universities, NHS trusts, local authorities, clinical commissioning groups, UCLPartners, industry and organisations representing patients and the public.

We invite applications for these 3-year PhD studentships starting October 2019 (exact date dependent on the individual university). Studentships will be based at one of the following Universities: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, University College London. Details of the individual projects and supervisors are given below. The studentships include a stipend and full UK/EU fees.

Read more about how to apply on this page;

https://clahrc-norththames.nihr.ac.uk/nihr-clahrc_north-thames-academy/phds/ 

The PHDs on offer are below:

Cancer and comorbidity: impact of comorbid conditions on equity of access and safety and outcomes of cancer treatments

CLAHRC Research area: Health Economics and Data

Developing and evaluating an online community of practice for public health decision-makers

CLAHRC Research area: Health Economics and Data

Addressing the polypharmacy challenge in working-age adults

CLAHRC Research Area: Multimorbidity

Optimising resources from the internet in primary care consultations

CLAHRC Research area: Innovation and Implementation Science

Somatic and psychotropic polypharmacy: Understanding sociodemographic factors and the effects of polypharmacy in people with mental health problems

CLAHRC Research Area: Multimorbidity

Mapping Complex CAre Pathways for Personality Disorder (MACCA-PD)

CLAHRC Research area: Mental health

Understanding and facilitating self-management in child and youth mental health for socially excluded populations

CLAHRC Research area: Mental health

Evaluating services for older adults with multimorbidity across health and social care

CLAHRC Research area: Multimorbidity

Patient experiences on inpatient psychiatric wards: does this information get used to improve outcomes?

CLAHRC Research area: Mental health

Equity in service provision for people newly diagnosed with dementia and their family

CLAHRC Research area: Mental health

Implications of digital health innovations on the demand, use, cost and experiences of health and social care services

CLAHRC Research area: Innovation and Implementation Science

 

Introduction to Evaluation Online: 7th May – 4th June 2019

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Do you need to demonstrate the impact of projects in your organisation?

Do you want to improve the design and implementation of your programmes?

Are you tasked with carrying out an evaluation, but don’t know where to start?

Consider enrolling in our four-week online course run by the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames Academy to address these challenges. This course has been recently updated. It is aimed at staff in frontline services at NHS Trusts, CCGs and Local Authorities, who have limited experience conducting service evaluations and would like to learn about evaluations in flexible time.

After participating in this course, you will have the skills and knowledge to undertake your own evaluation of a local programme or service. Inspired by the content of our popular face-to-face evaluation course, the online course will cover:

  • Different types of evaluation, including their pros and cons
  • How to select suitable methods and approaches for evaluating a local programme or service
  • Practical skills and tips in using evaluation methods and approaches
  • Ways of sharing your evaluation findings to make an impact

Teaching will be delivered entirely online. You’ll learn by watching videos and lecture slides; interacting through activities and questions; and learning from others by taking part in the discussions that accompany each step. You’ll also develop a plan for a real life evaluation you may have to conduct. 

Who is this workshop suitable for?

Staff from NHS trusts, local authorities and clinical commissioning groups who need to evaluate local programmes or services as part of their work. The course is not aimed at academics or researchers.

What preparation is needed?

Participants should attend the course with an evaluation in mind that they may have to carry out.  No previous knowledge of evaluation is required, or experience of study design and statistics.

Participants will receive a certificate of completion if they undertake at least 80% of the course activities.

Dates – Tuesday 7th May – Tuesday 4th June 2019.

Learning hours – an estimate of 3 hours per week (12 hours in total)

Cost – £100 for staff working in NIHR CLAHRC North Thames partner organisations (please click here to see a list of our partners). There is a delegate fee of £250 for other attendees.

Registration – Registration will open between 25th February and 3rd May 2019.
To register for this course, please go to the UCL online store.

For more information please contact clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk

Dr Nora Pashayan

Posted on by CLAHRC

Nora is a Clinical Reader in Applied Health Research / Honorary Consultant in Public Health Medicine and has a clinical background with specialty training in both Family Medicine and Public Health Medicine. Her research is in cancer screening, particularly personalised screening.  She is the graduate tutor, and the educational supervisor for public health specialty registrars at the UCL Department of Applied Health Research.  http://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=NPASH45

 

Supporting our partners in Becoming Research Active

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Local research bodies join forces with patient partners to deliver an introduction to research

We ran our Becoming Research Active course on November 14th offering our partners in front-line care a primer in research and the research process.

CLAHRC North Thames Academy collaborated with other NIHR funded research organisations in the region – the Clinical Research Network and Research Design Service – to deliver the training, with vital contributions from patients and members of the public.

The day-long course is structured to reflect the research cycle – from defining a problem, through securing funding to dissemination and evaluation. Attendees, who came from across the NHS and local authorities were encouraged to bring a research idea they could develop over the course of the day.

“The course has provided me with lots of resources and a clearer sense of direction, which is what I hoped for.”

We joined forces with NIHR infrastructure across the North Thames region – the Research Design Service which provides support to those preparing research proposals for submission to peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research; and the local Clinical Research Network which makes it possible for patients and health professionals across England to participate in clinical research studies.

The training aimed to highlight the processes involved in planning and carrying out successful research, in partnership with patients and the public, and signpost attendees to the support available to them.

We were also very fortunate to have some patients and members of the public bringing their unique lived experience – of working with researchers, leading research and being a clinical trial participant respectively to offer tips to attendees.

CLAHRC Research Advisory Panel member Ayath Ullah (below left) joined the CLAHRC’s involvement officer Steven Towndrow to offer a lay perspective on how researchers can make patient/public advisers welcome and valued.

One of the CRN’s Patient Research Ambassadors (PRAs) Phillip Wingfield spoke about his experience of taking part in two clinical trials, offering a perspective from a participants point of view. 

We were also joined by community researchers Sultana and Farzana from the NEON project, where they have led research into improving nutrition practices among the Bangladeshi community in East London.

“Useful to have a range of speakers with varied experience. Great place to come prior to starting research.”

Researchers, staff and health professionals delivered a range of presentations with small group work and regular exercises to reinforce learning, and were on hand to facilitate each part of the day.

Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive;

“Very useful and informative.”

“Lots of information to move forward my idea. Thank you very much.”

“A good overview of processes. Helpful to know all the help/support available.”

“Very well designed and delivered. It kept my attention throughout. The content/sessions were well balanced and provided me with the basis to build on”

We are offering follow up sessions with attendees to support the development of research ideas into action, and we plan to run the course again in summer 2019. Get in touch to join our mailing list to find out when courses are planned – clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk.

Introduction to Economic Evaluation

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February 27, 2019 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Do you need to demonstrate the economic impact of projects in your organisation?

Do you want to assess the outcomes and sustainability of a new service?

Are you tasked with carrying out an economic evaluation, but don’t know where to start?

This one day, hands-on workshop aims to provide an introduction to addressing these challenges.  It is run by the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames Academy.  The course is aimed at staff in frontline services in the NHS and local government, who have limited experience of conducting evaluations and decision making analysis.

After attending this course, you will have the skills and knowledge to undertake your own simple economic evaluation of a local intervention or service, and be able to appraise other evaluations.

The course will cover:

  • introduce the basic principles of economic evaluation methods
  • explain how to assess the costs of an intervention/service
  • explain how to measure and value outcomes of an intervention/service
  • give practical examples of economic evaluation analysis
  • help to understand how to use economic evaluation in decision making
  • offer the opportunity to discuss in small groups the economic evaluation you are doing or thinking of doing.  A facilitator will help scope your economci evaluation, draft its core elements, identify the data you will need to use, think how you could overcome information or data gaps.

This workshop is suitable for staff from NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and CCGs who need to evaluate local programmes or services from an economic perspective as part of their work. It is not aimed at academics and/or researchers.

In order to be most beneficial for the participants, we invite applications from individuals who are carrying out or soon will need to carry out an economic evaluation of a service/intervention. In the selection process, we will give priority to applications providing a detailed description of such projects. Groups of people working on the same project are encouraged to apply.

No previous knowledge of economics is required (or experience of study design and statistics), however an interest in economics and being comfortable with numbers is desirable.

All participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

Cost – This course is free for staff working in NIHR CLAHRC North Thames partner organisations (please click here to see a list of our partners). There is a delegate fee of £250 for other attendees.

Registration – Please complete the registration form and email it to clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk by 5pm, Wednesday 19th December 2018.  

Please note, a cancellation fee of £100 will be charged to both partner and non-partner delegates in the event of non-attendance without notice after 5pm, Wednesday 20th February 2019