Enhancing Experience and Equity for Patients in healthCare (EPiC)

Please find below our current and recent projects on improving experience and equity in healthcare:

Projects

Improving healthcare commissioning for probation: mapping the landscape 2011-14
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.