Health and Care Research and Evaluation Service

The Institute for Health and Care Improvement at York St John University is committed to improving the health and care of our communities, in partnership with health, social care and voluntary sector organisations across the region.

You can commission us to undertake research and evaluations of your services, interventions and initiatives for users and their carers, and your employees. An independent evaluation of your service or programme can demonstrate its impact and provide evidence to support your decision-making.

Our areas of expertise include project evaluation and primary research across a range of health and social care areas of focus.

What we can offer

We can support health organisations, local authorities, charities and third sector organisations.

Drawing on the vast range of academic expertise within the University, we can provide you with full research design, advice and consultancy. This will include project managing and undertaking research projects and service evaluations commissioned by you.

We will utilise a variety of methodologies including face to face interviews, focus groups, surveys, data collection and analysis, desk research and literature reviews.

We will analyse the resultant qualitative and quantitative data to produce full and/or summary reports for you, including interim reports where relevant.

Our research expertise

We bring together interdisciplinary academic expertise with users of research and wider groups/communities to exchange ideas, evidence and expertise in health and social care, and our staff include academics and clinicians with quantitative and qualitative expertise in a range of health and care related research.

Our research projects and evaluations involve children and young people, families, adults and carers, and professionals across the health and social care sector.

Our research expertise includes:

• Child development
• Counselling and therapy
• Disease detection and prevention
• Early parenthood, maternity and paternity
• Healthcare management and advanced healthcare practice
• Mental health and wellbeing
• Neurodiversity
• Nursing
• Occupational therapy
• Paramedic science
• Physical activity and health
• Physiotherapy
• Psychology
• Public health
• Reducing inequalities in health and care
• Sport and exercise science
• Supporting people living with dementia

Our projects include:

• Survey of cancer awareness in the North Yorkshire and Humber region
• Understanding what people with young onset dementia and their families want from support services
• Evaluating Right Care Right Person within mental health services in Humber
• Study on antipsychotic medication and severe behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia
• Good Experience project: research to inform the development of a Communication Charter, and its evaluation

Survey of cancer awareness in the North Yorkshire and Humber region

The North Yorkshire and Humber Cancer Alliance has commissioned the Institute to undertake a cancer awareness survey amongst residents of North Yorkshire, York, East Riding, Hull, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. We worked in partnership with the six Healthwatch organisations in these areas to obtain over 5,600 responses from a wide range of people, including talking to people who would not normally answer a survey.

The Cancer Alliance wished to gain a deeper understanding and insight of cancer awareness and understanding of symptoms within our region's differing communities and populations. The survey findings will inform strategy and planning by NHS commissioners and providers, with the potential to contribute to the future planning of cancer services including targeting support and resources for identified communities.

Understanding what people with young onset dementia and their families want from support services

Dementia Forward is seeking to develop a key resource and centre of excellence for people with young onset dementia. However, evidence appears to show that place-based services have not been as effective as anticipated, and Dementia Forward would like to understand why this is so and understand more about what those with young onset dementia need from a resource/hub, including gaps in the existing journey/pathways.

We have undertaken a desk review of published studies on existing models of care for people with young onset dementia, after their diagnosis, that can offer support and activities. We have completed participatory action research using PhotoVoice with those living with young onset dementia and their families. This focused on their experiences of support, looking at what is available, what they use and what they want including gaps in what is available. A copy of the summary report is available below.

Download: Report: People living with young onset dementia and their families (PDF, 2.9 MB)

The feedback from the desk review and the participatory work is being used within a wider consultation run by Dementia Forward as they develop the Hub. We are also undertaking an evaluation of the services and support provided by Dementia Forward for people with young onset dementia and their families, using a combination of surveys and interviews.

Evaluating Right Care Right Person within mental health services in Humber

Right Care Right Person (RCRP) was introduced by Humberside Police in 2019 as a programme of partnership working and the withdrawal of the police from certain types of demand, aiming to ensure that vulnerable people are given the right care and support when they are in crisis. When there is immediate risk to life or a risk of serious harm, police will still attend. However, when agencies call police about issues which don't meet the threshold for police intervention, they will signpost them to the most appropriate service. The police have reported savings in terms of officer hours saved, yet the impact upon and experience from a health and social care and service user perspective has yet to be evidenced.

We are undertaking a small-scale qualitative study to obtain initial feedback from a wide range of professionals within the whole system, including mental health practitioners, staff in A&E, ambulance service staff and police officers.

Study on antipsychotic medication and severe behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia

Antipsychotics may be prescribed in dementia care for those with severe behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSDs) causing severe agitation or distress. Currently there are two licensed antipsychotics for this indication, but a third that is licensed for the treatment of other conditions can be prescribed off-label for BPSD due to its lesser side effects, which may be preferable in patients living with dementia who are often at increased risk of frailty, falls and co-morbidities.

The TEWVS Mental Health Services for the Older Person is seeking to understand the effectiveness of this third antipsychotic medication in the treatment of BPSDs in patients with cognitive impairment. We are undertaking data analysis of existing patient records using machine learning algorithms and natural language processing (NLP) techniques. These technologies will help in categorising text-based data and extracting relevant information such as symptom descriptions, medication effects noted in clinical notes, and other behavioural observations to allow the application of advanced analytical techniques on the data. We are also surveying practitioners to understand their observations and evidence of the impact of the medication.

Good Experience project: research to inform the development of a Communication Charter, and its evaluation

York St John are supporting the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board on their project around good communications with patients and staff, with the aim of developing a Communications Charter for all health and care organisations across the region. We are supporting York Business School to:

• Carry out a literature review on the barriers/facilitators to organisations adopting a Communications Charter and then embedding it within their organisations.
• Undertake surveys of patients and staff to obtain feedback.
• Develop the Charter alongside a toolkit (including key principles and indicators) for its implementation.
• Pilot and evaluate the implementation of the Charter.
• Evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the Charter once it has been adopted by organisations.

An initial report provides a brief literature review outlining aspects of good practice, facilitators and barriers to communication and how this links to healthcare service provision, plus analysis of preliminary data.

Read the Good Experience project report