Care City has been selected by the Health Foundation, an independent charity, to be part of its programme to help research teams bridge the gap between academic research findings and actionable learning for people practising in health and care.
Having previously received funding from the Health Foundation, the team from Care City will now be able to use innovative and creative approaches to translate their findings into practical tools for practitioners in health services and health policy.
The team will receive up to £50,000 for the development of tools and resources to support the implementation of their findings into practice, and to develop innovative ways to promote their findings to those who influence, plan and deliver health and care services. The project will be funded for between 12 and 14 months.
Across Barking and Dagenham, Care City has used joined up data to better understand population characteristics and behaviours, and how people use services. Through an Advancing Applied Analytics project, the impact of social isolation on health and care utilisation was explored, using an existing linked dataset.
For example, the research into people living alone found that they had a higher use of services across all care settings. These findings are important, but they are also easy to misunderstand. Care City want a deeper understanding of the issues – including through qualitative work with the people concerned – before recommendations are made about provision. This programme will enable that deep work and give Care City the time and space to share it with decision-makers.
The work on living alone is one of numerous studies using the Care City local dataset which could benefit from translational work for local policy audiences. However most recently the data has been used to pro-actively help with the current COVID-19 crisis.
Councillor Maureen Worby, Barking and Dagenham Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration, commented: “The Care City joined dataset has really proved its worth 10 times over during the current crisis. Just before lockdown the council used the dataset to identify high priority areas to target using key health and demographic data. This resulted in a hotspot priority map which was used by council teams in partnership with local voluntary organisations to mobilise volunteers to these areas to leaflet, offer assistance and raise awareness. We produced the maps within two hours and our volunteers were on the ground within two days from the initial request”.
John Craig, Chief Executive, Care City commented “This project will provide resources for policy makers and commissioners that describe the evidence base, deepen understanding of the data, and familiarise them with simple analytical approaches”.
Shaun Leamon, Research Manager at the Health Foundation, said: “We are very pleased to be funding the four selected projects for this round of the Evidence into Practice programme, which will result in resources being developed that will provide actionable tools for those working in practice or policy to implement change, and will have an impact on the improvement of health or social care services in the UK.”
