Research

National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) support applied health and care research that responds to, and meets, the needs of local populations and local health and care systems. The NIHR ARC East Midlands (EM) is one of 15 ARCs across England, part of a £135 million investment by the NIHR to improve the health and care of patients and the public. Professor Maniatopoulos leads the ‘Translating and Implementing Sustainable Service Improvement’ theme, for the NIHR Applied Research Collaborative (ARC) for the East Midlands.

In collaboration with Teesside Mind and Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria, Professor Maniatopoulos led a study exploring the implementation of a healthcare passport (Passport to my Health and Well-being) across primary care, mental health, and cancer services within the North East and North Cumbria region. Currently, Professor Maniatopoulos is working with Health Innovation East Midlands, the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise Alliance, and East Midlands ICSs to facilitate the implementation and uptake of the passport across the region.

Virtual presence: A cultural analysis of the emergence of telepresence technologies as a solution to loneliness

This study, funded by the Research Council of Norway, investigated the relationships between technology and loneliness. The protocol for the study can be downloaded. Research outputs include a blog, a special issue of academic papers and a podcast:

• Virtual presence
• Virtual presence: loneliness, technology and the production of human (dis)connectedness
• What kind of a problem is loneliness? Studying technology to understand policy concerns

The study has been covered (in brief) by CNN.

Professor Maniatopoulos and Dr Hughes led the evaluation of the Samaritans online safety hub, a digital intervention offering practitioners with a range of guidelines and resources to address harmful online content in relation to self-harm and suicide. The project aimed to evaluate the implementation of the online safety hub to understand the impact it has on both practitioners who provide support to individuals engaging with self-harm and suicide content and people with lived experiences of suicide and self-harm.

The OSIRIS programme, funded by the NIHR, has been investigating how to improve shared decision making for high-risk surgical patients. Dr Gemma Hughes is leading a sub-study of the programme which asks: how could perioperative pathways for high-risk surgical patients be organised differently to facilitate shared decision-making?

Outputs from OSIRIS include the following papers and a 2-part podcast:

• Shared decision making - a joint CPOC/RCoA podcast
• Hughes G, Stephens TJ, Seuren LM, Pearse RM, Shaw SE. Clinical context and communication in shared decision-making about major surgery: Findings from a qualitative study with colorectal, orthopaedic and cardiac patients. Health. 2024;29(2):200-219.
• Shaw, S.E., Hughes, G., Pearse, R., Avagliano, E., Day, J.R. Edsell, M.E., Edwards, J.A., Everest, L. Stephens, T.J. (2023) Opportunities for shared decision-making about major surgery with high-risk patients: a multi-method qualitative study, British Journal of Anaesthesia, 131 :1 56-66
• Shaw, S.E., Hughes, G., Stephens, T., Pearse, R., Prowle, J., Ashcroft, R., Avagliano, E., Day, J., Edsell, M., Edwards, J., Everest, L., OSIRIS Programme Group (2020) Understanding decision-making about major surgery: a qualitative study of shared decision making by high risk patients and their clinical teams. BMJ Open, 10(5), pp. e033703.

The DECIDE (Digitally Enabled Care in Diverse Environments) centre is a new programme of work for rapid evaluation of technology-enabled remote monitoring in health and care. Funded by the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) programme, the programme is a partnership between the University of Oxford and RAND Europe.

Improving patient, family and colleague witnesses’ experiences of Fitness to Practise proceedings: A mixed methods study

This research, funded by the NIHR, examined the experiences of witnesses involved in Fitness to Practise proceedings. Health and social care professionals are regulated by 13 different regulators in the UK. If professionals fail to meet required standards, they may face a Fitness to Practise investigation and hearing. Little was previously known about the experiences of people involved in these hearings. The project website including a film from a dissemination event in 2024.

An Open Learn Course, informed by the study, has been produced for members of the public, health and social care professionals, Fitness to Practise panel members, regulators employees, employers, unions/professional bodies.

Care In Uncertainty is an interdisciplinary research team dedicated to exploring the work, employment, and well-being of health professionals across specialties and career stages, with the goal of providing informed recommendations to improve their working lives.