Building research capacity in the NHS - a short secondment successfully completed

The Collaboration for Leadership and Applied Health Researchand Care, Yorkshire and Humber (CLAHRC-YH) supported a short term secondment of Occupational Therapist Ali Madden-Fitzgibbon, from the Assessment and Rehab Centre and Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust. Ali was placed with the ‘Valuing Active Life in Dementia’ (VALID) research team in Sheffield, to develop her research skills. It worked really well for all concerned – the research team gained the expertise of an experienced occupational therapist. Ali was able to pick up the requirements of the research very quickly, recruiting and seeking informed consent from people living with dementia and their supporters. Ali gained experience of working on a large, National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funded study and the requirements of a multi site, randomised control trial of a complex intervention (Community Occupational Therapy in Dementia, COTiD-UK). She also networked with researchers in the University and local NHS research staff. Ali plans to use these networks and experience to support research and within her own practice and setting.