Optimal TIMES

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Optimal TIMES – an observation of the knowledge work of managing multiple chronic conditions

  • IRAS ID

    329145

  • Contact name

    Joanne Reeve

  • Contact email

    joanne.reeve@hyms.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Hull

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    Telling healthcare workers that a new approach is effective is not enough to ensure its implementation. To improve how research is put into practice we developed Optimal TIMES, to first understand how healthcare staff finds, creates, and applies knowledge in their daily work. We call these activities "knowledge work".

    Optimal TIMES is part of the TIMES project, which focuses on helping people with dementia sleep better by co-creating a tool with input from patients, caregivers, and professionals. It will make sure that this tool, and other research findings, are implemented effectively in healthcare settings.

    Our goal is to figure out how to make healthcare research more useful for primary care practitioners who treat people with multiple long-term health issues and/or dementia. We want to answer two main questions:
    1. How do primary care practitioners share, integrate, and create knowledge for clinical decision-making in everyday practice?
    2. How can research findings best be implemented into everyday practice, taking into consideration the knowledge work of primary care practitioners?

    We will recruit six primary care practices across England. We'll observe what happens during patient visits and practice meetings for a week in each practice, with short (e.g., 5-10 minutes) interviews with healthcare staff to get more insights during the observations.

    We will also hold one focus group with healthcare professionals in each practice, to understand what helps or hinders them when using research evidence in their daily work.

    Ultimately, we aim to achieve the following outcomes:
    1. A better understanding of how primary care practitioners use knowledge in their everyday work.
    2. A detailed plan for supporting the implementation of research findings in healthcare settings.
    3. A bid application that brings together the findings of Optimal TIMES and TIMES to secure funding for a study addressing the challenges that came up during the previous studies.

  • REC name

    HSC REC A

  • REC reference

    24/NI/0024

  • Date of REC Opinion

    27 Mar 2024

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion