Category: Academy (blue)

Introduction to Evaluation

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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 programme?

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

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, who have limited experience of conducting service evaluations.

After attending this workshop, you will have the skills and knowledge to undertake your own evaluation of a local programme or service.

The course covers:

  • Different types of evaluation, including their pro 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

This workshop is suitable for staff from NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and CCGs.  It is not aimed at academics and/or researchers.  Participants should attend the course with an evaluation in mind that they may need to carry out.  No previous experience of study design, statistics or evaluation is needed.

All participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

Cost – This course is free for staff working in NIHR CLAHRC North Thames partner or 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, Friday 5th October 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, Tuesday 4th December 2018.


NIHR CLAHRC Career Development Conference

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Developing your career in applied health and care research – challenges and opportunities


Thursday 4 October 2018 from 09.00 to 17.00
Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HU
http://www.profbriefings.co.uk/nihrclahrc2018/index.html

Early career researchers (ECRs) face many challenges as they set out on their journey into health and social care research, and must prepare to face an increasingly competitive academic environment in which to pursue their interests and passions.


As part of their programme of support the three London CLAHRCs (Northwest London, North Thames and South London) have come together to deliver a career development conference for early career researchers across the whole CLAHRC community on 4th October at Senate House London.

The one-day conference, delivered in conjunction with the NIHR Trainees Coordinating Centre, will be a mix of plenary sessions, skills workshops, delegate presentations and careers clinics. It’s a great opportunity for ECRs to connect and learn about further career development.

As well as senior researchers from across the capital we’re delighted to welcome key note speakers Dr Louise Wood, Director of Science, Research & Evidence at the Department of Health and Social Care (below left) and Professor Dave Jones, NIHR Dean of Faculty Trainees. Both will share knowledge and guidance arising from their roles in creating the next generation of health researchers

It’s a timely gathering, with the launch of the NIHR Academy set for late October 2018 (following a strategic review of training within NIHR) and the arrival of the successor to CLAHRCs, Applied Research Collaborations, or ARCs in 2019.

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis so early registration is advised.

Registration for the event is now open at http://www.profbriefings.co.uk/nihrclahrc2018/index.html

Becoming Research Active: 14th November 2018; 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, NHS 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 producing new evidence and new knowlegde 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, Wednesday 5th September 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 notic after 5pm on 7th November 2018.

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


Introduction to Economic Evaluation – 31st October 2018

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

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 buy the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames Academy.  The course is aimed at staff in frontline services in the NHS and local governement, who have limited experience of conducting economic 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 economic evaluation, draft its core elements, identify the data you will need to use, think how you could overcome information or data gaps

This worksop is suitable for staff from NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and CCGs who need to evaluate local programmes or service 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 if 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, Friday 31st August 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 24th October 2018.

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

 

Introduction to Demand, Capacity and Flow – 25th September 2018

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Does your organisation encounter problems with patient flow?

Are you interested in forecasting demand or capacity planning but don’t know where to start?

Do you want to learn some common pitfalls, principles and rules of thumb that might help you?

 

This one day, hands-on workshop is an introduction to demand, capacity and flow aimed at staff from NHS Trusts, CCGs and Local Authorities, and is run by the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames Academy.

After attending this workshop, you will have the skills and knowledge to apply simple principles and rules of thumb for managing demand and capacity in your local organisation or service.

The course covers:

  • Exploring what we mean by demand, capacity and flow
  • The role of variability in demand forecasting and capacity planning
  • How these concepts relate to flow within and between organisations
  • Common pitfalls including the role and limitations of using historical data
  • Some useful rules of thumb from ‘queueing theory’
  • Practical skills and tips for applying these concepts within your own organisations

This workshop is suitable for staff from NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and CCGs. It is not aimed at academics and/or researchers. No previous knowledge of demand, capacity or flow is required but basic Excel skills are essential.

Participants should attend the course with a service in mind in which they need to manage demand and capacity. You will need to bring a laptop/device with you to the course, on which you can access Microsoft Excel.

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, Friday 3rd August 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, Tuesday 18th September 2018.

For more information, and to be added to our mailing list, please contact clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk

Continuing Professional Development at your fingertips

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Part of the CLAHRC’s mission is to raise awareness of new research evidence, and get it to the front-line where it can used by NHS staff. We are working with our host Trust NHS Bart’s Health to translate the new knowledge we generate into everyday practice among NHS professionals.

Bart’s Education Academy has developed an eCPD app available to download for free for users of Android and iPhone smartphones. The eCPD app aims to reduce the time staff have to leave the frontline to attend training courses in person, and give them more flexible learning they can fit around their busy schedules. The app allows staff to log in and create personal and professional development plans (including mandatory training) and optional learning modules. Once completed a notification is sent to both the member of staff and their supervisor, to show they have carried out the necessary training and are credited with CPD points where appropriate.

The CLAHRC has provided learning modules focused on our research findings, and more of our work will appear on the App in the near future.

We are now rolling out some of our popular CLAHRC Academy courses so that they can be accessed via the App – our Academy Director Dr Nora Pashayan (below right) and Academy Teaching Fellow Dr Silvie Cooper (below left) recently met Director of Academic Health Sciences at Barts Health NHS Trust Professor Jo Martin to launch our Introduction to Evaluation course via the App.

The Barts Education Academy provides clinical placements for 2,500 medical undergraduate students and trains 1,040 junior doctors, over 800 children, adult nursing and midwifery students and 275 allied health professionals. The Education Academy offers resuscitation skills training, moving and handling, simulation and clinical skills training and a range of skills based short courses, as well as ensuring the trust achieves high levels of compliance for its statutory and mandatory training.

Two PhD studentships jointly funded by CLAHRC and the School for Public Health Research

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Two National Institute for Health Research funded PhD studentships available

The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) North Thames and the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) based at UCL invite applications for two jointly-funded 3-year PhD studentships at UCL to begin September 2018. Supervisors are drawn from across both the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames and NIHR SPHR. PhD projects align with the following NIHR CLAHRC North Thames and NIHR SPHR themes:

  • Children and Young People
  • Public Mental Health
  • Inequalities

The benefit of this collaborative initiative include joint funding from two high profile NIHR research collaborations, which facilitates the opportunity for unparalleled access to leading applied and public health experts, supervisors who are leaders in their field, channels for dissemination of research and participation in bespoke training and a strong network and community of graduate students and researchers. From the four topics outlined below, two will be funded through these joint studentships.

PhD Research Topics

  1. Integrated legal advice and health services

Supervised by Prof Rosalind Raine (NIHR CLAHRC North Thames, NIHR SPHR, UCL), Prof Dame Hazel Genn (UCL Centre for Access to Justice) and Dr Charlotte Woodhead (NIHR CLAHRC North Thames, NIHR SPHR, UCL)

  1. Exploring the value of linked health and council data to examine associations between adverse childhood experiences and its consequences using linked population and health datasets

Supervisory panel includes Dr Jessica Sheringham (NIHR CLAHRC North Thames, UCL), Dr Manuel Gomes (UCL) and Dr Sarah Dougan (London Borough of Islington)

  1. Exploring the value of linked health and council data to examine the clustering of multimorbidity and associated unplanned service use

Supervisory panel includes Dr Jessica Sheringham (NIHR CLAHRC North Thames, UCL), Dr Manuel Gomes (UCL) and Dr Sarah Dougan (London Borough of Islington)

  1. Closing the gap in adverse physical health outcomes for people with poor mental health: exploring the role of healthcare provision and care pathways

Supervised by Dr Kate Walters (NIHR SPHR, UCL) and Prof David Osborn (NIHR SPHR, UCL)

Further details of all topics and methodological expertise or experience required can be found here: PhD Studentships – CLAHRC SPHR Full Description 2018 

Eligibility

Candidates should hold a Master’s qualification (or complete their Master’s by September 2018) in an appropriate discipline and have a minimum of a 2:1 or equivalent in their first degree. Applicants should preferably have knowledge of the UK health and care system. All applicants are required to have excellent written and verbal communication skills. They should also be willing to work collaboratively in multi-disciplinary and multi-professional teams.

Due to funding restrictions applicants must be UK/EU nationals. Please refer to UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) for details of these criteria.

How to apply

Your application should consist of a CV, contact details of two academic referees, and a personal statement (1,000 words maximum) describing your suitability for the proposed project(s) including how your research experience, skills and interests relate to the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames and NIHR SPHR project(s). In your application, please indicate which project(s) you wish to be considered for.

Please send your application or queries about projects to Dr Silvie Cooper, NIHR CLAHRC North Thames Academy Teaching Fellow (silvie.cooper@ucl.ac.uk).

Closing date for applications: 17.00, 15 May 2018

Interviews: 25 May 2018

PhD start date: 01 September 2018 (or earlier if desired)

Duration: 3 years, full time

Stipend:  £19,158

 

Introduction to Evaluation Online: 16 April – 13 May 2018

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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. It is aimed at staff in frontline services at NHS Trusts, CCGs and Local Authorities, who have limited experience conducting service evaluations.

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, by expert tutors. You’ll learn by watching videocasts; 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 – Monday 16 April – Sunday 13 May 2018.

Learning hours – 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 in February 2018, when an application form will be available here. Applications will be selected to ensure a diverse range of participants.  The closing date is Friday 30th March, 5pm.

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, Sunday 8th April 2018.

 

For more information, and to be added to our mailing list, please contact clahrc.academy@ucl.ac.uk