Care Home Research
- Group summary: The Care Home research group is part of the Academic Unit of Elderly Care and Rehabilitation, and have established a strong and growing portfolio of research relevant to the residents of care homes. Our projects
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.
The Care Home research group is part of the Academic Unit of Elderly Care and Rehabilitation, and have established a strong and growing portfolio of research relevant to the residents of care homes.
Our projects
- A prestigious highly cited Cochrane Review evaluating the effects of physical rehabilitation in care homes.
- REACH: Development and testing of strategies to enhance physical activity in care homes (NIHR Programme Grant)
- The PATCH study: Posture and Mobility (Skilful Care) Training Package for Residents in Care Homes: a Cluster Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial
- Investigation of the Delirium Observation Screening Scale (DOSS) for the routine detection of delirium in the Care Home Setting: The DOSS study
- The HARP study: Evaluation of the Validity, Reliability and Acceptability of a Postural Assessment tool for Older People with Restricted Mobility in Care Homes
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.
Who we are
Professor Anne Forster – Head of Unit
Dr Elizabeth Teale – Clinical Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Elderly Care Medicine
Physical activity in care homes
Posture and mobility in care homes
Physical activity and mobility
Key publications
Ellwood A, Airlie J, Cicero R, Cundill B, Ellard DR, Farrin A, Godfrey M, Graham L, Green J, McLellan V, Siddiqi N, Forster A, on behalf of the REACH Programme Team. Recruiting Care Homes to a Randomised Controlled Trial. Trials 19:535. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-018-2915-x
Graham L, Cicero R, Clarke D, Cundill B, Ellwood A, Farrin A, Fisher J, Goodwin M, Hawkins R, Hull K, Hulme C, Trépel D, Williams R, Forster A. PATCH: posture and mobility training for care staff versus usual care in care homes: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials 2018;19:521. doi.org/10.1186/s13063-018-2863-5
Teale EA, Munyombwe T, Siddiqi N, Schuurmans M, Young J. A prospective observational study to investigate utility of the Delirium Observational Screening Scale (DOSS) to detect delirium in care home residents. Age Ageing 2018;47(1):56-61
Forster A, Airlie J, Birch K, Cicero R, Cundill B, Ellwood A, Godfrey M, Graham L, Green J, Hulme C, Lawton R, McLellan V, McMaster N, Farrin A, on behalf of the REACH Programme Team. Research Exploring Physical Activity in Care Homes (REACH): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials 2017, 18:182. doi: 10.1186/s13063-017-1921-8
Crocker T, Forster A, Young J, Brown L, Ozer S, Smith J, Green J, Hardy J, Burns E, Glidewell E, Greenwood DC. Physical rehabilitation for older people in long-term care. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2013;(2):CD004294. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004294.pub3.
Funding Sources
National Institute for Health Research
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Charitable Trust