research report

Social well-being in extra care housing

The well-being of older people is an important issue for policy across health, housing and social care, and local authorities are increasingly considering extra care as a way of replacing older models of residential care provision and addressing low demand for traditional forms of sheltered housing. The researchers interviewed residents and managers from six extra care housing schemes in England to explore their experiences.

Race equality training in mental health services in England : does one size fit all?

Report presenting an historical analysis of the development of race related training and the findings of a survey of race equality training in mental health services in England. It concludes there is a need for a more strategic approach to this training which includes national standards which govern both the nature of training and the selection of training providers.

Older people 'getting things done': Involvement in policy and planning initiatives

The involvement of older people in planning and evaluating services is high on the agenda for many organisations. Using different case studies, this report: maps out the ways in which older people got involved, offering ideas for other organisations and for older people themselves; explores the key issues that need consideration; draws out good practice from the schemes studied; highlights how older people took part because they wanted to make a difference, not just as a way to pass the time.

Migration and rural economies: assessing and addressing risks

This paper examines the implications of increasing migration to rural areas, looking in particular at the economics of this phenomenon. A mixed methodology was used including a literature review, analysis of national population and economic datasets, surveys and focus groups with migrants in rural areas and interviews with key informants. The roles migrants play in rural areas are explored, as are the economic impacts of migration on existing populations and businesses, and what future migratory trends might be.

Models for providing improved care in residential care homes: A thematic literature review

This Annotated Bibliography is one output from a review of the available research evidence to support improved care in residential care homes as the needs of older people intensify. The review identified extremely little published evidence on residential care homes; the research base is almost exclusively related to provision of care in nursing homes.

Long-term ill health, poverty and ethnicity

This research studied Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Ghanaian and white English working-age people living with long-term ill health. It found that the effect of long-term ill health in reducing chances of employment was similar across ethnic groups. Individuals with long-term conditions required substantial flexibility in employment, due to pain, fatigue, unpredictable symptoms and health appointments; this could conflict with employers' needs for reliability.

Equality in later life: a national study of older people's mental health services

This study of older people's mental health services assessed available national data and visited specialist mental health trusts. The interview tool covered questions relation to several of the core standards used by the Healthcare Commission to assess trusts' performance. The key findings are reported in four main themes: age discrimination, the quality of inpatient care, the comprehensiveness of services; and working with other organisations (how specialist services worked with primary care, adult social services and acute hospitals).

Assessing illicit drugs in wastewater

This report presents a number of contributions that relate to analysing communal wastewaters for drugs and their metabolic products in order to estimate their consumption in the community. This area of work is developing in a multidisciplinary fashion, involving scientists working in different research areas. For this reason, the contributions to this publication come from a variety of different perspectives including: analytical chemistry, physiology and biochemistry, sewage engineering, spatial epidemiology and statistics, and conventional drug epidemiology.

Living on the edge of despair: destitution amongst asylum seeking and refugee children

This report is based on a research study carried out by The Children's Society in the West Midlands during 2007. Charities in the West Midlands have become increasingly concerned about destitution amongst children. The British Red Cross destitution clinic in the West Midlands identified an increasing number of babies, children and young people coming through the project, mainly with their parents.