COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our research underwent a shift in focus to address the pressing needs and challenges faced by our communities, health and care systems and care homes. By realigning our projects at the ARC East of England across our seven research themes, we were able to make a meaningful impact at both regional and national levels in our response to the pandemic. Our aim is for our findings gained during this period to help shape future policies and enhance outcomes for patients and service users.

On this page, you will find projects, rapid reports and related blog posts from this critical time.

Research projects:

• Top Tips for Tricky Times: Research-based tips for care home staff dealing with COVID-19 care challenges to be used in care home and wider

• ARC's response to COVID-19 Care Home Research

• Using videoconferencing and online tools to facilitate health and social care delivery during COVID-19: an interview study of care home staff

• THRIVE: Understanding the distinct challenges for Nurses in Care Homes

• Understanding the lived experience of infection transmission in care homes

• Understanding the implementation and impact of remote monitoring pathways in Integrated Care Systems

• Tailoring Evidence-based psychological therapies in wellbeing services

• Development of Computarised Adaptive Testing methodology to identify mental health problems in jobseekers

• What is the impact of providing end-of-life care during COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of health and social care staff, and what supports might help? A systematic review and narrative synthesis

• Best practice in suicide prevention and postvention guidance for employers during COVID-19 and beyond

• The early impact of COVID-19 on mental health and community physical health services and their patients’ mortality in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

• Risk factors for excess deaths in patients without confirmed COVID-19 during lockdown: a retrospective cohort study

• Entering the workforce, working and studying during a pandemic: a systematic review

• The medium-term impact of COVID-19 lockdown on referrals to secondary care mental health services: a controlled interrupted time series study

• CATNAPS: Fighting fatigue in the NHS ambulance workforce

• Simulating a community mental health service during the COVID-19 pandemic: effects of clinician–clinician encounters, clinician–patient–family encounters, symptom-triggered protective behaviour, and household clustering

• University of Cambridge study of public opinion on sharing data from UK health services for clinical and research purposes

• Survey of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) clinicians about their experience of remote working: a brief report

• The impact of COVID-19 on food systems and practices in the East of England

• Beyond Words: co-creation and evaluation of a visual resource to support COVID-19 vaccine uptake in people with intellectual disabilities

• Developing a co-designed intervention to increase COVID-19 vaccination confidence among young people and their parents in the Black African and Caribbean communities in Watford 

• COVID-19 vaccine uptake and hesitancy in children and young people: a systematic review

• Prevention and early detection in health and social care during COVID-19

• A scoping review of the evidence base on approaches to improving quality of data relating to health inequalities

• COVID-19 and Palliative and end of life care

• The changing landscape of anticipatory prescribing practice in community and end of life care in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Alternative routes of administration for medication at the end of life

• Bereavement Care during the COVID-19 pandemic: a practitioner survey

• Exploration of the provision of palliative and end of life care in care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic (CovPall-Care Homes)

• Primary Care Covid Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)

Blogs and articles:

• 'A personal narrative of my COVID experience' by an Expert by Experience supporting the Prevention and Early Detection Theme 

• 'A mismatch between research evidence and the information needs of care homes during COVID-19: the case of restraint' by Tamara Backhouse

• 'When the All Stars and academics align'

• 'Key research projects helping to shape recovery from COVID-19'

• 'How NIHR ARCs rose to the challenge of COVID-19'

Read NIHR ARC's supporting the fight against COVID-19: