1. Occupational therapists’ research engagement: enablers and challenges
Royal College of Occupational Therapists Conference
Birmingham, 20th June 2017
Occupational therapists’ research engagement: enablers and challenges
Laura Di Bona
Occupational Therapist/ Engagement Manager
Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
Honorary Research Fellow University of Sheffield
he Programme and is a
@SheffOTCA
@VALIDResearch 1

2. Valuing Active Life in Dementia (VALID)
This is independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research scheme (RP-PG ).
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.
The Valuing Active Life in Dementia (VALID) research study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme and is a partnership between North East London NHS Foundation Trust and University College London, University of Sheffield, University of Hull, Radboud University of Nijmegen, University of East Anglia, University of Manchester, Swansea University, Kings College London and Dementia UK 2

3. Rationale & Aim
To improve understanding of how to enable occupational therapists to deliver interventions within research studies
Increase evidence base of occupational therapy
Many challenges to research involvement
Occupational therapists’ experiences of delivering interventions within research studies largely unknown

4. Valuing Active Life in Dementia
5 year programme of research
Randomised controlled trial
Clinical and cost effectiveness
Community occupational therapy in dementia – UK (COTiD-UK)
Pilot & Feasibility (2014)
Development (2013)

5. Occupational therapists’ research engagement
Learn the intervention
Recruit participants
Deliver intervention with fidelity
Describe intervention in practice

6. Method What challenged or enabled research involvement? 5 focus groups
28 occupational therapists
8 organisations (Greater London, Yorkshire & Humber)
Thematic analysis

7. Results: research challenges
“we go in with a plan…do it.. go out so this has been quite difficult to take a step back”
Learning the intervention:
Person centred & flexible
Adhering to fixed structure
Changing practice

8. Results: research challenges
Recruiting participants:
Time consuming
Consent procedures
Eligibility criteria
Willing and able
“a lot of phone calls and visits before you actually get someone to say yes”

9. Results: research challenges
Videos (delivering intervention with fidelity):
Learning to use equipment
Data transfer
Emotional exposure
“frustrating countless hours….video recorders that don’t video ….. don’t charge”

10. Results: research challenges
Paperwork (describing intervention in practice) :
Volume of paperwork
Changes to paperwork
“overwhelmed… I am just so confused and all the changes…”

11. Results: research enablers
Positive attitudes:
Research
Intervention
Belief
“very exciting for us to have this research… raise the profile of OT”

12. Results: research enablers
“to ask questions, like oh my goodness what do I do with this”
Peer support:
Practical
Emotional

13. Results: research enablers
Management support:
Links to research department
Funding
Team influence
Promote research value
“couldn’t have done it without xx ..the amount of work that she has done”

14. Results: research enablers
“ you’ve got a semi crisis on… VALID’s gone out the window”
Protected time:
Increase priority of research
Protects against crisis & risk management

15. Implications / Conclusions
To enable research engagement:
Reduce practical challenges
Maximise support
Involve service users & clinicians in research design
Promote research culture
Consider individual & organisational contexts

16. References
Wenborn, J. et al., (2016) Community occupational therapy for people with dementia and family carers (COTiD-UK) versus treatment as usual (Valuing Active Life in Dementia [VALID] programme): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials. 17:65 DOI: /s y2.
Pain et al., (2015) Comparison of research experience and support needs of rural versus regional allied health professionals. Australian Journal of Rural Health 23 (5),
Hysong et al., (2012) Recruiting clinical personnel as research participants: a framework for assessing feasibility. Implementation Science 8, 125
Newall et al., (2009) Nurses’ experiences of participating in a randomised controlled trial in the community. Wound Practice and Research 17, 24-34
5. White E, Hampson H, Gardiner L et al. (2013). A review of occupational therapy research and development activity in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The British Journal of Occupational Therapy. 76 (1), 2–8.

17. References
6. Eriksson C, Tham K & Guidetti S (2013). Occupational therapists' experiences in integrating a new intervention in collaboration with a researcher. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 20,
7. Pighills AC, , Plummer D, Harvey D et al. (2013). Positioning occupational therapy as a discipline on the research continuum: Results of a cross-sectional survey of research experience. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. 60 (4), 241–251.
8.Guest et al., (2012) Introduction to Applied Thematic Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA. SAGE Publications
9. Damschroder LJ, Aron DC, Keith RE, Kirsh SR, Alexander JA & Lowery JC (2009). Fostering implementation of health services research findings into practice: a consolidated framework for advancing implementation science. Implementation Science 2009, 4:50 doi: /
10. May, et al., (2016) Implementation, Context & Complexity. Implementation Science 11, 141

18. Thank You
people with dementia, supporters, occupational therapists, colleagues, and voluntary organisations who have contributed to the VALID study AND colleagues who have contributed to this presentation
VALID research teams, grantholders, management and advisory groups
The VALID research team acknowledges the support of the National Institute of Health Research Clinical Research Network
@SheffOTCA
@VALIDResearch