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Research in Scotland

Information for Researchers

ENRICH Scotland provides support to researchers interested in care home research in two ways

  1. Building a Research Forum comprised of academics and researchers from Scottish Universities that meets online every 12 weeks.
  2. Providing practical support to research teams that are developing and/or delivering research to care homes in Scotland.

Our Research Forum:

  • Brings together a multidisciplinary group of around 40 people, who collectively assist in gathering and sharing the evidence base required to advance care home practice in Scotland, including: 
    • care home and NHS staff
    • academics from a wide range of universities and disciplines (medical, nursing, Allied Health Professionals, sociology)
    • Scottish Care
    • the Care Inspectorate
  • Works to raise the profile of care home research in Scotland
  • Acts as advocates and promotes the care home research agenda with appropriate stakeholders including care home managers, NHS and academic partners, policymakers and research funders 

 

Practical Support to Researchers

At ENRICH Scotland we carefully consider each study we are willing and able to support within the network of 'Research Ready' care homes. The development of these eligibility criteria was adapted from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) eligibility criteria for clinical research support.

We work with care homes in the ENRICH network to prioritise studies that meet the needs and interests of care home staff, residents, and their families. Furthermore, we balance the need to provide opportunities for research participation with care home capacity and safety.

For researchers or students who are interested in approaching ENRICH Scotland for support, the section below explains the eligibility criteria we assess each study against. Please check your project, studies or ideas are in line with these.

If you feel your study meets the below noted eligibility criteria and you would like ENRICH to work with you to support your study, please complete our request form and return it to the ENRICH Scotland coordinator.

If your work falls outside of these criteria please contact us, and we will be happy to advise you on how to adapt or reconfigure it to make it eligible.

For researchers who have received support from ENRICH Scotland, we ask that this is acknowledged in any publications or reports, and includes that funding support for ENRICH Scotland is provided by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office.

Eligibility Criteria

For a study to be supported by ENRICH Scotland it must meet the definition of research outlined by the UK policy framework for health and social care research:

“As the attempt to derive generalisable or transferable new knowledge to answer or refine relevant questions with scientifically sound methods. This excludes audits of practice and service evaluations. It includes activities that are carried out in preparation for or as a consequence of the interventional part of the research, such as screening potential participants for eligibility, obtaining participants’ consent and publishing results. It also includes non-interventional health and social care research (i.e., projects that do not involve any change in standard treatment, care or other services), projects that aim to generate hypotheses, methodological research and descriptive research.”

If you are unsure about your study and whether it falls within this definition, please consult with the Medical Research Council’s decision tool. 

Automatic Eligibility

Of studies relating to care home residents, their families, and staff working in care homes, some studies will be automatically eligible for support within the network. These are:

  • any study that is funded by NIHR, Chief Scientist Office (CSO), NHS Scotland, NHS England, or any other central Government funder
  • any study funded by an organisation on the CSO list of eligible funding organisations

PLUS

  • studies that have ethical approval from a university or NHS ethics committee

A Study Requiring Review

Investigator-initiated, commercial-collaborative research studies, and studies funded by overseas governments or charities, are ‘potentially eligible’ for support and are required to undergo additional review. Contact the ENRICH Scotland coordinator to discuss further.

If you are developing or undertaking an audit, evaluation, service evaluation or quality improvement project you are welcome to contact us to see if we can help you connect with another team, researcher, student, or professional who might be better placed to advise and support you.

Guidance for researchers interested in working with care homes

Funded by ARC East Midlands based at the University of Nottingham, Dr Kathryn Hinsliff-Smith, Dr Reena Devi, Dr Neil Chadborn, Dr Jane Horne and Professor Adam Gordon have authored a 2-page document to help researchers to design research proposals in a way that is appropriate for the care home sector.