Evaluating Healthcall during covid in care homes in Co Durham
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating the Healthcall app in care homes in County Durham and Darlington in the context of the covid-19 pandemic: A qualitative interview study
IRAS ID
286043
Contact name
Barbara Hanratty
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
There is a high prevalence of disability, frailty, among care home residents. Residents also have 40-50% more emergency admissions and A&E attendances than the general population ≥75 years, half of which may be avoidable. An admission to hospital can negatively impact on health and well-being, and expose residents to the risk of infection such as COVID-19. Overt signs of a deterioration in health amongst older adults are often absent. This makes the identification and management of acute illness in care home residents challenging. Enhancing how care home staff recognise, respond to and communicate concerns about resident’s health could improve triage and reduce avoidable hospital admission.
Care home staff have typically used the telephone to make referrals to the NHS for residents who become unwell. Such communications can lack a hand over of structured and objective information for the remote clinical team. A system called ‘Health Call’ is currently being piloted in Co. Durham and Darlington. The Health Call app is designed to provide a structured referral, which can be made via an app. Whether the Health Call app is feasible and appropriate for use within care homes, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, needs assessment.
This qualitative study will explore perceptions and experiences of using the Health Call app in care homes before, prior to, and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will focus on care homes Co Durham & Darlington, and sample for variation in size and type of care home, level of COVID-19 cases and deaths, and engagement with Health Call. We will remotely interview, via telephone or secure video-chat up to 60 care home staff, residents and relatives, and NHS and local authority staff. Data will be analysed using a thematic approach. The study will take place over a thirty-two month period, July 2020–March 2022.REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0962
Date of REC Opinion
23 Sep 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion