Last Updated on October 18, 2022

Care England, University College London (UCL) and The Outstanding Society (OS) have partnered with the aim of reducing care home infections. The partnership also aims to learn lessons from the pandemic.

The project builds on the national VIVALDI study when researchers and care providers worked together to produce evidence rapidly, which directly informed care home policy on COVID-19. Key examples from the study included showing how important it was to pay full sick pay to staff, supporting the set-up of the Infection Control Fund and monitoring how well vaccines protected vulnerable residents, therefore informing when to use booster vaccines.

As well as reducing care home infections, the initiative's goal is to establish a network of 500-1,500 care homes in England that are motivated by the idea of research to improve care quality and are open to the idea of sharing data on their residents (with appropriate governance and oversight).

The initiative reports that, importantly, all the work that it produces will have the needs and values of care home residents, families and staff at its core. Between now and December 2022, the initiative's working group of care providers, researchers and people with lived experience will meet regularly to develop a detailed plan for this network. The initiative will also identify providers who are willing to take part in a pilot study.

Professor Laura Shallcross, Professor of Public Health & Translational Data Science at UCL, said, 'The VIVALDI study showed what could be done when researchers and care homes worked together, informing national responses to COVID-19. If we can do this kind of work during a pandemic, imagine what could be achieved if we adopted the same approach for other common infections, like flu or norovirus. We want to challenge the view that infections and outbreaks are simply an inevitable part of living in a care home, by delivering research and surveillance that tackles all kinds of infections.'

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive at Care England, said, 'The VIVALDI study really shows the benefit of care homes being involved in research. VIVALDI delivered changes in policy and practice that were driven by the experiences of care homes. For one of the first times in our recent history, we had a policy agenda that was dictated by what worked for the care homes during a global pandemic. VIVALDI has clearly shown the power of care homes coming together with researchers to define the best practice for both residents and staff.'

Zoe Fry, Executive Director at The OS, said, 'The VIVALDI study was such a significant milestone for social care to use research and surveillance to inform best practice to improve the lives of residents and teams within care homes. The OS is delighted to work with UCL and Care England to continue using evidence obtained within social care to reduce the impact of infections for the care home community, not only for the physical wellbeing of residents, teams and visitors but their mental wellbeing too.'

If you are interested in taking part, contact the initiative at [email protected]

In other news, Team CHIP has been announced as the winner of the 2022 Care Innovation Challenge.