Research forum to focus on living well in older age
The Queen’s Nursing Institute’s first Community Research Forum of 2024 will focus on living well in older age in the community.
The ‘Living well in older age in the community: research into nurse-led interventions’ themed research event is part of a series of events by the QNI’s Community Nursing Research Forum.
The event is open to all community nurses interested in research.
It will be chaired by forum lead Ben Bowers who will be joined by forum members, Dr Helen Lyndon, Nurse Specialist Ashley Shield and Dr Diane Bunn, who will present their own research.
Dr Helen Lyndon, Consultant Nurse Older People, of Cornwall NHS Foundation Trust has a background firmly rooted in community nursing with previous roles as a district nurse, advanced nurse practitioner, community matron and community nursing leader. She now works as a consultant nurse for older people in a clinical academic role combining clinical practice with research.
She will be presenting her PhD research study: The Holistic Assessment and care Planning in Partnership Intervention (HAPPI) study. This mixed methods study developed, implemented and tested the feasibility of a nurse-led assessment and care planning intervention for community-dwelling older people who live with frailty.
Ashley Shield, of Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, will present his research ‘Community-based nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of nutritional care with older people: Results from a UK survey’.
Ashley is a nurse specialist leading a frailty team in Newcastle upon Tyne community services. For the past four years, his team has worked proactively finding frailer older people using GP data and delivering comprehensive geriatric assessments and exercises in their own homes.
Ashley’s research sought to ascertain current nutritional knowledge and training needs of community-based nurses caring for older people in the UK. His team conducted a cross-sectional, anonymised, online survey of nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to older people’s nutrition. Most respondents undertook nutrition screening and had confidence in providing nutritional advice and ease of identifying those in need was high. However, some aspects of nutritional knowledge were less complete, including the recommended daily intakes of protein and fibre. High confidence in delivering nutritional advice contrasted with uncertainty around some aspects of nutritional knowledge, suggesting opportunities to improve training on the nutritional needs of older people.
Dr Diane Bunn, Associate Professor of Nursing Research, of the University of East Anglia, carries out research into hydration care for older people in care homes and the community, and impact of infectious diseases in care homes. She adopts collaborative and inclusive approaches, working alongside care home residents, staff and the wider multi-professional team in her research.
She will be presenting a broad overview of current hydration care research, focusing on the poor diagnostic utility of common signs and symptoms for dehydration and how best to support older care home residents to drink well.
The online forum will take place from 1pm to 2pm on January 25, 2024. To book a free place at the event, click here