A Realist Evaluation of Primary Care Admiral Nurse Practice
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Realist Evaluation of Primary Care Admiral Nurse Practice. Admiral Nursing: what works, for whom, in what circumstances and why?
IRAS ID
265565
Contact name
Gayle Madden
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Dementia UK
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
The research question to be addressed is - what is it, in Admiral Nursing, that works; for whom does it work, in what circumstances, and why? This question is important for individuals and their families with lived experience of dementia - both those who currently receive support from an Admiral Nurse service and those who may in future. Addressing this question will generate findings about how positive outcomes for families are accomplished. This in turn will inform refinements to Admiral Nursing practice so that practice becomes tailored to consistently achieving positive outcomes for families living with dementia.
In the pre-research stage the researchers have involved and consulted with key stakeholders - family carers and Admiral Nurses. By listening to stakeholders the purpose was to try to 'unpack' how Admiral Nurses work with families. This consultation resulted in a set of provisional theoretical statements written as “Context-Mechanism-Outcome-Configurations” (CMOCs). With input from expert advisors (realist experts and dementia experts both clinical and from academic settings) the CMOCs were further refined.
The research stage will involve the working versions of the CMOCs being tested out by the researchers against data collected through fieldwork in a small sample of community and primary-care-based Admiral Nurse services (n=4). The objective is to find out whether/to what extent the CMOCs 'hold true' in practice.
The study entails recruitment of Admiral Nurses and families (family caregiver and, where possible, the individual living with dementia being cared for), data collection through observations and interviews in the fieldwork settings, and data analysis. We expect this study to take about 18 months from the point at which fieldwork is started.
Following data analyses the CMOCs will be further refined into a programme theory of Admiral Nursing in primary care settings.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/LO/0737
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jan 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion