UCC Nursing & Midwifery Scholarly Impact Report 2022

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CATHERINE MCAULEY SCHOOL OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY, UCC

TRANSLATING EVIDENCE & INNOVATION FOR HEALTH

Caring beyond the First Year of COVID-19: Identifying Priorities for Family Carers through a Participatory Process The Interface project, I de N tifying priori T i E s fo R FA mily C ar E rs, established 10 researchable questions which will guide further research to improve the support and wellbeing of family carers, especially when preparing for the next pandemic. The Interface project, as the name implies, is the intersection between health and social carecommunity services and familycarers. Thisproject sought to provide an understanding of the experiences of individuals who have a shared need and/or navigated caring challenges during the pandemic. Identification of research needs and gaps from current evidence generates relevant questions and involved service users which strengthened the process. Recognising the importance of addressing the needs of family carers, University College Cork and Family Carers Ireland in partnership identified research priorities relating to family caring, in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the well-established James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships (JLA PSP), the research team implemented a collaborative process with family carers and those who work closely with them, to identify the top 10 research priorities relating to caring in the context of COVID-19. Supported by the Irish Research Council, New Foundations Award 2021. Lead and Team Members Dr Irene Hartigan, (Primary Investigator); Dr Nikki Dunne (Research Manager,FamilyCarersIreland);DrNicolaCornally(SchoolofNursing andMidwifery,UniversityCollegeCork);DrSerenaFitzGerald(School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork); Dr Caroline Dalton O’Connor (School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork); Dr Ruth Hally (Civic Engagement Officer, University College Cork); Olivia Donegan (Research Assistant, College of Medicine and Health, University College Cork); Dr Katherine Cowan - Independent Facilitator, https://katherinecowan.net/

References: • Hartigan, I., Cowan, K., Dunne, N., Hally, R., O’Connor, C. D., & Fitzgerald, S. Donegan, O., (2021) Caring Beyond COVID-19: Identifying Priorities For Family Carers Through A Participatory Process. Family Carer Ireland Autumn Research Conference on 24 th November. • Donegan, O., Cowan, K., Dunne, N., Hally, R., O’Connor, C. D., & Fitzgerald, S. Hartigan, I. , (2021). 259 Identifying The Top 10 Research Priorities For Family Carers: The Interface Project. Age and Ageing, 50(Supplement_3). doi:10.1093/ageing/afab219.259 • Hartigan I , Donegan O, Cowan K, Hally R, Dalton O’Connor C , FitzGerald S , Cornally N , Dunne N (2022) The Interface Project: Identifying Research Priorities for Family Carers in Ireland. Sigma 6 th Biennial European Regional Conference, RCSI, Dublin page 51 http://www.sigma6biennial.eu/scientific-work/book-of- abstracts/

Available Here: https://familycarers.ie/research/research- publications/research-reports Read more Here!

Highlights • The partnership focus of this project allowed the ‘ground-up’ development of research priorities for carers by carers. • The COVID-19 pandemic served to magnify systemic issues already present in society, as well as highlight new burdens