ACTIoN (Assessment, Care, Treatment In Neurology) theme

The Assessment, Care, Treatment In Neurology (ACTIoN) theme brings together researchers from different departments and professional backgrounds so as to optimise the potential benefits of collaborative working.

We have strong links both locally and nationally. These include:

• working with health and social care settings as well as local and national charities
• established research collaborations with academic research centres at other UK universities as well as with other colleges and schools at UWE Bristol, e.g. Bristol Robotics Laboratory (College of Arts, Technology and Environment), and the Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing (College of Health, Science and Society)
• strong relationships with clinical research networks in the West of England such as NIHR ARC West, the West of England Academic Health Science Network and Bristol Health Partners Health Integration Teams.

Research focus

Our research aim is to use our collective knowledge and skills to improve the lives of people living with neurogenic clinical conditions such as stroke, dementia and Parkinson’s disease. We carry out research with the people who are directly impacted by these conditions, their families and carers, as well as the systems of care that support them. Some examples of this work are:

• The experiences of people living with dementia from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in Bristol. Subitha Baghirathan (former researcher), spoke to older people and their families from African-Caribbean, Chinese and South Asian communities in Bristol in order to find out about the experiences of people with dementia.
  
  
• A terror management perspective on dementia. Terror Management is a major research paradigm within social science and holds that human beings are unique in our capacity for self-awareness and the ability to reflect on the past and ponder the future. From this comes out knowledge that death is inevitable, which engenders potentially debilitating terror that we have to “manage”. Researchers from ACTIoN have worked on a series of research projects to show how this theory might relate to people with dementia.
  
  
• SPATIAL - A feasibility Study of Prisms and Therapy in Attention Loss after Stroke. In partnership with the University of Manchester, we worked on a proof of concept study and feasibility randomised controlled trial of prism adaptation as a primer for Occupational Therapy. The project was funded by Research for Patient Benefit NIHR and ran from June 2018 until 2020. It was also supported by the Evaluation theme. For more details, contact Dr Ailie Turton.

Recent and current research projects

Our research aim is to use our collective knowledge and skills to improve the lives of people living with clinical conditions including stroke, dementia and incontinence. We carry out research with the people who are directly impacted by these conditions, their families and carers, as well as the systems of care that support them. Some examples of this work are:

• The PRIME project, funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit grant stream, is developing a framework for bladder and bowel continence promotion with community pharmacy settings, through widespread collaborative activities.
• The CONNECT (funded by the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group) and ECHO (funded by University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust) studies are exploring continence care provision in the community and hospital settings.
• Dr Nikki Cotterill is a Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership Scholar and Director of the BABCON HIT, bringing a city- and systemwide focus on continence care and the experience for people with bladder and bowel leakage. An app to promote self-help is currently in development.
• The FREEHAB study is funded by the EPSRC and aims to develop new soft robotic technologies that will help older people and people with disabilities to live more independently and with greater quality of life. 
• The ADAPT study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research and will establish an online toolkit of resources to enhance the dementia care pathway for people living with dementia in the UK from South Asian communities.
• The EPICCC-19 study is funded by Elizabeth Blackwell Institute and NIHR ARC West to explore the healthcare providers perspectives of the impact of COVID-19 on continence services. This complements a collaborative project with Healthwatch BNSSG to explore the patients’ perspective of the impact of COVID-19 on services, aiming to learn from the pandemic experience and inform service recovery.
• The VOICE PhD studentship is held by Jenny Wheeldon, exploring barriers and facilitators to continence care in care homes. This project is funded by Abbeyfield Research Society and will be completed in 2023. 

Theme leads

Professor Richard Cheston and Professor Nikki Cotterill