Enhancing exPerience and equity in healthCare (EPiC)

Please find below our current and recent projects on Enhancing exPerience and equity in healthCare (EPiC):

Active projects

Completed projects

Guiding Lincolnshire’s Mental Health Research (GLiMHR): Developing a locally responsive and global facing centre for improving rural and coastal mental health 2024-25
Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Key contact: Dr Nima Moghaddam.
This study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research aims to identify priorities for a future mental health research group (MHRG) in Lincolnshire, working with a network of local patients, carers, professionals, and communities to set a research agenda that reflects and responds to the mental health needs of people in this region.

HMPPS Evaluation of commissioned rehabilitative services 2023-24
Funded by the Ministry of Justice. Key contact: Dr Coral Sirdifield.
This study, funded by the the Ministry of Justice aims to evaluate Commissioned Rehabilitative Services, conducting process, impact, and economic evaluations.

Measuring and improving the health and quality of healthcare for people on probation: developing data collection and quality indicators 2020-22
Funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme, awarding £137,000. Key contact: Dr Coral Sirdifield.
This study, funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit Programme aims to support evidence-based commissioning of appropriate and accessible services for people under probation supervision by developing healthcare quality indicators.

Understanding and learning from the impact of COVID-19 on probation’s work to improve the health of people under its supervision 2020-21
Funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of UK Research & Innovation’s rapid response to Covid-19, awarding £58,695. Key contact: Dr Coral Sirdifield.
This study, funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) aims to provide insight into the nature and impact of the Covid-19 responses on health-related probation practice, the lived experience of accessing support for health issues whilst under probation supervision and partnership working and pathways into care.

Building an understanding of Ethnic minority people’s Service Use Relating to Emergency care for injuries (BE SURE) 2020-22
Funded by NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research, awarding £737,510. Key contact: Professor Niro Siriwardena
This is a multimethods study which will describe differences in how people from ethnic minority groups who have an injury contact emergency ambulance services and emergency departments and that happens to them, compared to White British people.

Health Experiences of Asylum seekers and Refugees: how well are their interpretation needs met?(HEAR2) 2020-22
Funded by Research for Patient and Public Benefit, Health and Care Research Wales, awarding £229,988. Key contact: Professor Niro Siriwardena
This is a mixed methods study which will provide preliminary data about demand for, and experience and quality of interpretation services in primary and emergency care in Wales; and assess the feasibility of a comprehensive evaluation of provision of interpretation services in these settings across the UK.

Evaluating symptom burden after colorectal cancer treatment 2020-2023
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Key contact: Dr Darren Fernandes
This is a mixed methods doctoral study which will produce new knowledge that enables better assessment of patients following colorectal cancer treatment.

Delivering ambulance service care that meets the needs of EU Accession migrants in Lincolnshire 2018-2022
University of Lincoln doctoral funding. Key contact: Viet-Hai Phung
This is a multimethods doctoral study exploring the needs of recent migrants from European accession countries when accessing ambulance services and seeking to understand ways to improve this.

Heritage at risk and wellbeing: assessing wellbeing outcomes from completed project work (HARAW) 2020-2021
Historic England. Key contact: Prof Carenza Lewis
This is a mixed methods multiplecase study seeking to advance understanding of the relationship between activity and wellbeing in relation to tangible heritage at risk.

Diffusion of COVID-19 vaccines: Building vaccine confidence among diverse communities in Canada and the United Kingdom 2021-2022
Funded by British Academy COVID-19 Recovery G7 awarding £66,921. Key contact: Dr Agnes Nanyonjo.
This a six-month study led by the Lincoln International Institute for Rural Health, with CaHRU and University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada aiming to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake in communities with low vaccine confidence, by co-developing and implementing products which will be used to build trust in vaccines in target communities.

Improving healthcare commissioning for probation: mapping the landscape 2017-19
Funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Porgramme, awarding £150,000. Key contact: Dr Coral Sirdifield.
This study, funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit Programme aims to produce a toolkit which will help commissioners and staff delivering health services to effectively measure and improve the quality of probationers’ healthcare.

Quality and Costs of Primary Care in Europe (QUALICOPC) 2011-14
Funded by the European Commission, awarding €62,000. Key contact: Dr Coral Sirdifield.
This study, which involved over 30 countries in Europe, North America and Australasia, investigated which aspects of the structure and organisation of primary care are the most important in promoting service quality and equity while minimising costs. A team from CaHRU, led by Professor Niro Siriwardena, ran the UK section of this study, which involved recruiting GP practices from across the East Midlands and South Yorkshire region. Each practice was asked to complete a fieldworker questionnaire, a GP questionnaire, and questionnaires on patient values and experiences. Through this we increased understanding of the variety of ways in which primary care is structured and organised in these regions, and patients’ experiences of accessing primary care services and which aspects of care they particularly value.

Clinical Trials for Elderly Patients with Multiple Diseases (CHROMED) 2013-15
Funded by the European Commission, awarding €2,563,530.75. Key contact: Dr Jo Middlemass.
This three year study involved eight academic and third sector partners in five European countries. The hypothesis of the study was that integrated home care electronic monitoring will improve the quality of life for the patient and reduce healthcare management and service use costs for co-morbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). CaHRU worked with Lincolnshire Community Health Services to develop and evaluate clinical protocols and organisational models based on the new technologies. The programme consisted of an initial feasibility study (April-May 2013), with a full randomised trial running from September 2013–April 2015.

Proactive Assessment of Obesity Risk during Infancy 2014-15
Funded by the Medical Research Council, awarding £149,995. Key contact: Professor Niro Siriwardena
This project aims to develop a and test the feasibility of a complex intervention comprising an interactive, educational programme (ProAsk) for health practitioners to guide and enhance communication with parents of infants about obesity risk identification and prevention strategies.

Carers of Alzheimer’s Disease Sufferers: Empowerment and Efficacy via Education (CAD: E3) 2014-15
Funded by the University of Lincoln Research Investment Fund, awarding £36,545. Key contact: Dr Jo Middlemass.
This a one year study which aimed to develop develop a complex psychoeducational intervention for carers of people with dementia to improve carer and patient outcomes.

Exploring factors increasing Paramedics’ likelihood of administering Analgesia in pre-hospital pain (ExPLAIN) 2016-17
Funded by the Falck Foundation, awarding €33,000. Key contact: Dr Zahid Asghar
The aim of this study is to investigate patient and practitioner factors affecting paramedic pain management practice in adult patients attended by ambulance services and to explore whether paramedic initiated analgesia differs according to factors such as the age, sex, ethnicity or type of pain of the adult patient and paramedic factors such as sex or role seniority.

Prehospital Differences In Care by eThnicity’ (PreDICT) 2015-18
Unfunded study. Key contacts: Dr Zahid Asghar and Viet-Hai Phung
This study aimed to investigate how processes and outcomes of prehospital care for common emergencies attended by ambulance staff vary by ethnicity and to conduct a systematic review of the barriers and facilitators for ethnic minority groups in accessing urgent and pre-hospital care.