NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: Understanding barriers to increasing physical activity in chronic pain: an exploratory study to develop the SUStainable Self Effective Exercise Development (SUSSED) intervention
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: About 20% of people suffer chronic pain, rising to around 45% in older adults. The majority are have activity levels well below expected for their age; many are prescribed potentially harmful painkillers (e.g. opioids). Increasing physical activity (PA) is a safe, effective treatment, but is often not used. We aim to understand what helps or hinders people with chronic pain increase their PA, using the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation– Behaviour (COM-B) system, to design practical approaches for health behaviour change. We will:  Interview people with moderate-severe chronic pain, to understand issues (social, economic, physical, psychological) influencing PA;  Interview health professionals, carers, and other stakeholders (e.g. leisure centre staff, Green Health Partnership) to learn how to support increased PA;  Assess different PA measures (e.g. FitBit) for reliability in measuring PA adherence in future studies. Results will inform the design of the SUstainable Self Effective Exercise Development (SUSSED) framework, which aims to produce a personalised PA plan for people with chronic pain, systematically taking into account of all the relevant factors for each individual. This can then be tested for effectiveness in future studies, and could help support people with chronic pain to increase their PA, improving quality of life and health.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Enhancing Recruitment and Retention of Rural Doctors in Scotland: A Mixed-Methods Study.
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: Providing healthcare for people in remote and rural (R&R) areas is a priority for Scotland. Provision depends on being able to recruit and retain doctors in R&R areas: when a local GP retires, or a small hospital cannot attract enough doctors, this can affect community stability. There is evidence than people born and/or brought up in R&R areas are more likely to want to work there, but little evidence exists about how to attract new people from diverse backgrounds to R&R areas and how to keep them there. This research will use qualitative interviews to better understand the experiences and motivations of doctors with respect to R&R jons Scotland, and in doing so gather information on factors which influence career decision making in relation to R&R working. The interview findings will be used to develop a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) survey. This will provide insight into the value of different factors, and the degree to which respondents are prepared to trade off one factor against another. Hospitals and general practices cannot change where they are located, but this information will inform new ways to attract and retain doctors to R&R localities, which can be tested in the a later study


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Social Prescribing for Remote and Rural Scotland: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of Link Workers
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: In Scotland, there is a commitment to embedding community link workers within our Primary Care system. In NHS Highland, around a dozen link workers will be employed to cover 29 GPs practices, in an approach targeted on the reduction of health inequalities. However, there is little guidance on how to implement a link worker model in remote and rural areas, and no published evaluation evidence. There is a need for robust evaluation of the link worker scheme within the rural context. We propose to undertake this evaluation in Highland and to highlight the relevance of findings to other remote and rural areas of Scotland. Our evaluation will monitor and measure the impact of the introduction of community link workers in three main areas: i) Impact on the patients, their carers and families; ii) Impact on the third sector and other groups that form part of the social prescribing system and iii) Impact on the health and care system


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Improving ethnic diversity in trials: helping trial teams recruit and retain the ethnic groups essential for results with community-wide relevance and applicability.
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: The results of trials will not have their full impact if part of the population is ignored or forgotten. Unfortunately, this is often the case for ethnic minority groups. We have recently developed a tool called the INCLUDE Ethnicity Framework (https://www.trialforge.org/trial-forge-centre/include/), which helps trial teams to think about how their design decisions might make it easy or difficult for some ethnic groups to take part. Feedback so far has been very positive and organisations that fund trials, such as the National Institute for Health Research, now include it in their guidance for researchers. We now want to go further. Firstly, we want to help trial teams using the Framework to identify the proportion of people from different ethnic groups needed for the trial to be truly representative. This will drive their recruitment targets and plans. Secondly, we want to give them evidence-based strategies to help them achieve these proportions. Doing this will reduce inequality and increase confidence that the results of an expensive trial will help all those who could benefit, including people from ethnic minority groups


Research activity codes: 8.4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Improving patient safety during a pandemic: using patient and professional experience to improve patient safety-netting in remote consultations.
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: Primary care changed rapidly in response to COVID-19. Fewer people attend their GP surgery; most appointments use remote phone or online video consultations. Whilst many patients are comfortable with these changes, others can find them challenging. For patients, sharing concerns with the doctor or understanding information given to them can be difficult, especially remotely. Safety-netting is the information given to people during their consultation, for example about on-going symptoms, changes or developing symptoms. It can also include follow-up plans, test results and referral to hospital. Safety-netting is important, particularly in remote consultations. This study will explore what happens during remote consultations and whether there is an impact on patient safety. We plan to do this by: - Exploring how primary care practices have managed the changes in consulting following COVID-19 - Identifying patients’ experiences of remote appointments. - Exploring whether patients are aware, and understand, that they have been safety-netted. - Exploring the experiences of health care professionals in providing remote consultations. - Identifying patient safety incidents recorded in patients’ electronic records. - Working with both patients and professionals, in workshops, to produce resources to help keep patients safe during remote consultations, ensuring that everyone’s needs are met. We plan to use a mix of methods including interviews and reviewing patient notes. Patients have been involved in the development of the research, a Patient and Public Involvement Group will oversee the study and help analyse the findings


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Using and improving Scotland’s care home data: a mixed methods programme of data linkage research and consensus gathering.
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: Moving into a care home is a life-changing event. It is often necessary to meet care needs which cannot be supported elsewhere and can be a positive choice. However, there is significant variation in use of care homes across Scotland and a lack of evidence about pathways into care. The NHS and social care sector collect large amounts of data through everyday use of services and audits of care. These data are a potentially valuable source of information, which could be helpful for researchers. Specialist skills are, however, needed to use and understand these data, ensuring privacy of individuals is respected and data are secure. This application is to support a researcher and doctor specialising in the care of older adults to develop a work programme, she has initiated and led, to make better use of care home data to improve care. The research has three projects: (1) Uses data collected by care homes linked to NHS information to look at pathways into care homes; (2) Uses clinical audit data collected about those who have experienced a stroke to identify predictors of care home admission; (3) Involves meeting with key groups who collect and use this data to understand their experiences and make recommendations for data use and improvement. All data will be handled in secure environments, anonymised to avoid identifying individuals, but to learn lessons to improve quality. Exploring, describing and using the data will generate findings which will be relevant to practice (for older adults, families and front-line staff); researchers (through improved understanding of the data sources, their strengths and limitations) and policymakers (by identifying the role of care homes in society and the care landscape). Learning from new developments during the pandemic will help support sustainable systems for longer term use


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Defining the Prevalence of Adverse Host Characteristics and their Influence on Prehabilitation Response.
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: Complications after surgery to remove cancers of the digestive system are common and can result in significant additional strain on patients, their families and the health service. Recent studies of exercise programmes before surgery have suggested improved fitness may reduce complications. A large UK study examining this is in progress. Patients with low muscle quantity and quality, excess body fat and high levels of inflammation in their blood have higher complication rates after surgery, slower recovery and poorer survival. Patients with these features can be identified using scans and blood tests performed as part of the investigation of cancer. Studies of exercise programmes have not looked at the influence of muscle quality and quantity or inflammation on fitness or complications. Using the scan and blood results from patients in these studies, we will assess whether the muscle and inflammatory features could be used to identify patients who may not benefit from standard exercise and need a more personalised approach. Following this, we wish to study simple ways of measuring muscle function and estimating fitness for surgery. This would mean specialist assessment of scans and bloods could be replaced by more simple measures that could be performed routinely in clinic.


Research activity codes: 7.3 MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Recording Care through the PACE Framework: Research Evaluation of an Innovative Approach to Person-centred Care Planning
Funder: Public Health Agency, NI

Abstract: The aim of this research project is to evaluate the impact of the implementation of an innovative approach to planning nursing care (referred to as the PACE Framework). The overarching research question is as follows: What impact does the implementation of an innovative approach to planning nursing care have on the development of person-centred practice? More specifically, the objectives are to: explore the impact of PACE Framework on patients’ and families’ experiences of care; explore the impact of PACE Framework on staff’s experiences of care; and identify the knowledge transfer that will support further development and ongoing implementation of this approach. It is anticipated that this research will contribute to the current evidence base in relation to person-centred care planning and the impact on experience of care for both patients and their families and staff. Furthermore, by the very nature of the proposed research the potential for impact is significant and will contribute to an existing body of work focused on implementing and evidencing person-centred practice.


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: PathLEAD - Pathology image data Lake for Education, Analytics and Discovery
Funder: Public Health Agency, NI

Abstract: The aims of PathLEAD centre of excellence (CoE) in AI for Digital Pathology (DP) are twofold: (a) to demonstrate maximum Artificial Intelligence (AI) contribution to cellular pathology, to deliver enhanced benefits for NHS patients by improving the efficiency, accuracy and quality of pathology sample assessment; and (b) to provide a platform to industry, scientists and pathologists for AI innovation and embedding AI within digital workflow. Our consortium brings together a unique team of UK pathologists and scientists with significant track record in digital, academic, and computational pathology, having direct access to significant expertise of Philips and the Philips Image Analytics R&D Hub in Belfast. We will develop the most detailed and comprehensive pathology image data lake available for AI product development and scientific advancement, with pathologists providing annotations to ensure such data is delivered to standards accepted by regulatory authorities. This will drive benefits for the NHS and growth in AI economy, enabling world-class education, analytics, and discovery, and assuming UK leadership on the global stage


Research activity codes: 4.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (DETECTION)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: GROUNDSWELL - UKPRP
Funder: Public Health Agency, NI

Abstract: Background: The GroundsWell consortium (https://ukprp.org/what-we-fund/groundswell/) is a £7.1m funded research programme led by Queen’s University Belfast. This is a 5-year research programme commencing in October 2021. The consortium is primarily funded by the UKPRP, a multi-funder initiative that supports novel research into the primary prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to improve population health and reduce health inequalities. NCDs make up the majority of illness in the UK and account for around 89% of all deaths. GroundsWell aims to drive community innovation applying systems science that maximise the contribution of Urban Green and Blue Space (UGBS), for example, parks, forests, greenways, rivers, canals, to the primary prevention of, and reduction of inequalities in, NCDs in urban settings. In collaboration with stakeholders and citizens, we will use UGBS as an exemplar to optimise innovative systems-based approaches that work with, and for, communities at high risk of NCD. We will transform systems and community approaches to create urban environments optimising health and co-benefits, while reducing inequalities. Initiating a step change in inclusive research and policy, we work towards the democratisation of research and evidence use. Communities as partners will enable delivery of optimal solutions to inform and innovate action on health inequalities and NCD prevention. Whole system mechanisms of action will be determined through interconnected work packages: 1) co-developing a systems-oriented framework of how UGBS impacts NCD; 2) agent-based modelling to simulate complex adaptive systems to explore how UGBS transformations will reduce inequalities in NCD; 3) working with communities and stakeholders to co-develop and evaluate local UGBS interventions using citizen science approaches; 4) curating a shared data repository with UGBS features valued by policy and communities, developing health and NCD indicators at multiple scales to inform and evaluate UGBS interventions; 5) generating evidence on economic impacts of UGBS interventions; 6) identifying pragmatic, systems-level actions to improve policy- and decision-making for equity and sustainability; 7) implementing a stakeholder-informed impact strategy. Our cross-cutting health inequalities theme will embed the consideration of inequalities throughout GroundsWell. Groundswell will be shaped and developed in three pioneer cities (Belfast, Edinburgh, Liverpool), with embedded translational mechanisms to ensure UK-wide and global reach.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;3.2 INTERVENTIONS TO ALTER PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Opportunity-Led - All Island programme of research on loneliness and social isolation
Funder: Public Health Agency, NI

Abstract: Public health and social measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic have brought profound changes to everyday life and have shone a light on loneliness and social isolation. Evidence is still evolving about the groups most affected by loneliness and social isolation and the way they are affected[1] [2] [3]. However, pre-pandemic evidence highlights the negative impact on health and well- being, and associations with depression and anxiety, non-communicable diseases (e.g. cardiovascular disease), health behaviours (e.g. smoking), stress, sleep, cognition, frailty and premature mortality. There are a range of programmes to address loneliness and social isolation and both governments in N. Ireland and Ireland are considering the development of loneliness strategies. However, to be effective in addressing the causes and consequences of loneliness and social isolation, policy and services must be guided by robust evidence. Unfortunately, too often the evidence is weak, or it is not made relevant to the policy and services and therefore there is little connection between existing research evidence and intervention design[4]. Furthermore, social distancing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have rendered many of the commonly used loneliness and social isolation interventions impractical or no longer viable. While a range of relevant data sets exist, there is a need for them to be analysed and translated for policy and service users as well as the academic community. Recent NISRA data has shown that during the pandemic in Northern Ireland, 1 in every 20 adults reported feeling chronic loneliness2,. In the ROI, CSO data indicates that the number of people who felt lonely, all or most of the time, doubled between April 2020 and November 2020, from 6.8% to 13.7% 3. Such data provides a useful overview of the overall levels, however what is required now is a greater in-depth understanding of the risk and protective factors and in particular the groups at most risk.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE
Title: Wellcome Irish Clinical Academic Training (ICAT) Programme
Funder: Public Health Agency, NI

Abstract: Irish Clinical Academic Training: An All-Ireland Integrated Training Programme for Clinical Academics (ICAT 2). The cross-institutional, comprehensive national programme for Clinician Scientists is based at six major Irish universities and their affiliated hospital groups (University of Galway, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Queen’s University Belfast, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and University College Cork), their respective Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine, the Health Research Board (HRB), the clinical training authorities North and South, Health Service Executive - National Doctors Training and Planning (HSE-NDTP) in the Republic of Ireland (ROI), the Northern Ireland (NI) Health and Social Care Research & Development Division (HSC R&D) in partnership with the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA), the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland (CAI). It provides excellent postgraduate training across all disciplines of human medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry, integrating PhD research training of the highest quality with higher specialist training. Candidates embarking on the programme will be offered the following: • Choice of research opportunities with internationally renowned investigators, with a strong emphasis placed on achieving the best structure for cross-institutional and multidisciplinary research, as mandated by the programme. • A comprehensive research/training structure including study days within the participating universities, an annual summer school and the annual ICAT Retreat • Funding: an annual salary based on level of training and matched to their equivalent clinical scale, generous research expenses, training allowance and PhD fees. • Opportunity to apply for additional funding for an international placement (between 2 weeks – six months) at an international centre of excellence of your choice. • Mentorship during the fellowship with a focus on supporting fellows to choose their supervisory structure, write their PhD proposal and which helps them through key transition points (such as the transition from PhD to follow-on clinical and research opportunities). • Longer-term post-PhD support, training and advocacy from the ICAT Alumnus Committee. • Opportunity to input into the ICAT-2 Programme structure by representing ICAT-2 fellows and alumni in the ICAT-2 Steering Committee, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, Alumnus Committee, and the Forum Physician Health and Wellbeing Group (one fellow/alumnus nominated to each committee).


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE