End-of-life care in the rural and coastal communities of the South West Research Project
About this opportunity
The opportunity:
Around one in five people in England live in rural areas, where accessing health and care services can involve longer travel times, fewer transport options and greater distances between services.
This research study is exploring how care is provided to people approaching the end of their lives in rural and coastal parts of the South West of England – including Somerset.
Why now, and why Somerset?:
People in coastal and rural areas in Somerset often face unique challenges in accessing healthcare services, and we want to understand what helps or hinders good end of life care. We need to work collaboratively in Somerset with local NHS, social care and voluntary organisations, and members of the public, to ensure that we can understand the reasons why end of life care may or may not be successful in coastal and rural areas.
What we hope to learn, understand, or achieve:
The project aims are to:
Understand the experiences of patients, families, and professionals delivering end of life care in rural and coastal communities.
Explore the barriers and enablers to accessing and providing high-quality, compassionate care.
Generate practical recommendations for how care can be improved locally and nationally.
Ways to get involved:
What organisations might gain from being involved:
Participation in the research project will support our understanding of how end of life services work and where improvements are needed.
Introduction to the project lead
Name:
Rory Baxter
Organisation:
University of Plymouth
I am a Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth and I am currently working on a research project exploring care at the end of life in coastal and rural areas of the South West.
What involvement might look like
What we are asking organisations to do:
As part of the research project we are conducting a case study on Somerset, exploring care at the end of life through interviews, observation (e.g. attending meetings, shadowing professionals), and a focus group. For these activities we are recruiting patients, families, professionals, the voluntary sector, and those organising services.
How much time is likely to be involved:
Interviews will last approximately one hour.
How we are making it easy to be involved:
We are looking to interview patients at the end of life, their family carers, and healthcare professionals. We also want to spend time with services supporting care at the end of life such as compassionate cafes and bereavement support groups.
What can be shaped and what is fixed:
To understand how we can address inequalities in care at the end of life, we need to conduct this research project. At the end of the project we will share practical recommendations for policy and service design and create resources to support compassionate and equitable care at the end of life.
Delivery timeframes:
Interviews can take place either in person or remotely using online platforms such as Microsoft Teams.