The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) has been accepting applications from individuals looking for support to help them build their research skills and develop applied research projects in health and social care in the region.
Individual Development Awards (IDAs) support individuals in the development of research projects and enable them to have dedicated time to conduct activities that will create change and make an impact in their local area(s).
During this round, 16 individuals have been awarded the following:
Springboard IDAs- provides applicants with the financial support to build their research skills and take their ideas and projects forward. Funding is given for a six-month programme commencing no later than January 2025.
The awardees are:
- Sharon Chepkemoi, Public Health Programme Support Officer, West Sussex County Council: Understanding the perceptions of alcohol support services, support needs, barriers and facilitators to access to alcohol support services among LQBTQ+ communities.
- Zoe Clothier, Research Assistant, University of Surrey: Building foundation in peripheral artery disease.
- Nat Farley, Research Community Involvement Facilitator, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT): Why sex workers do not engage with mental health services.Sharon Floyd, Paediatric and Neonatal Research Nurse, University Hospitals Sussex;
- Sharon Floyd, Paediatric and Neonatal Research Nurse, University Hospitals Sussex: Paediatric and adolescent mental health.
- Mary Mukutuma, Clinical Operational Manager – Community Neuro Rehabilitation Teams, Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust: Health Inequlaities in stroke rehabilitation outcomes.
- Cat Papastavrou-Brooks, Research Assistant, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust: Co-developing initial guidance for supporting lived experience researchers' reflexivity processes.
- Lisa Richardson, Research Associate, University of Kent: Barriers and facilitator to capturing the views of people with intellectual disabilities in social care research.
- Jessica Waters, Occupational Therapist, Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust: How clients' sensory processing needs impact on signs of distress and the most effective way of sharing their information with clients and their support teams.
- Kasia Wawrzyniak, CBT Psychotherapist, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust: effects of online metacognitive training intervention.
Investment in Future Research Leaders IDAs - these awards allow individuals to conduct a small-scale project within an ARC KSS member organisation. Commencing in January 2025, and funded for one-year, projects are closely aligned to one or more of ARC KSS’s research themes.
The awardees are:
- Dr Claudia DeGiovanni, Consultant Dermatologist, University Hospital Sussex NHS Foundation Trust: The impact of menopause and perimenopause on the skin. Investigating skin symptoms, and how dermatological conditions are affected through menopause and exploring barriers to accessing healthcare for skin concerns.
- Eva Eastman, Occupational Therapist, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust:Co-designing guidelines to adapt eating disorder treatment for individuals with ADHD; a lived experience led qualitative study.
- Dr Devyn Glass, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Sussex:Supporting Synchrony: Adapting video-feedback interventions to support improved practice for practitioners working with parents/carers and neurodivergent children.
- Dr Nina Lockwood, Research Fellow, Brighton and Sussex Medical School:Supporting autistic adults’ mental health: co-producing autism-specific guidelines for suicide awareness and prevention in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
- Lizzie Lowrey-Crouch, Head of Partnerships and Innovation, Involve Kent: Testing the use of perinatal social prescribing to improve maternal wellbeing in a Primary Care setting.
- Sharon Manship, Research Associate, University of Kent: Exploring the diagnosis experiences and post-diagnosis support of individuals living with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
- Gill Middleditch, Advanced Clinical Practitioner - Community Paediatrics, Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust: How can we support adolescents with ADHD to engage in learning about themselves and their condition?
Dr Julie MacInnes, ARC KSS co-lead for career development, said:
“We are delighted to announce our new cohort of individual development awardees. The applications received were of outstanding quality. At ARC KSS, we are keen to fund individuals who are working towards projects that show potential to influence change in practice for the better."
“By supporting individuals at an early stage of their development, we hope to increase the support available for researchers by enabling dedicated time to commit to developing their ideas and careers."
“All the projects selected have a clear pathway for evaluating the outcomes and benefits of interventions or changes in health and care practice that align with our local priorities and have the potential to bring about positive change locally or regionally.”
"Throughout the course of the year, we will provide a bespoke programme of support to the awardees including an academic and/or health or social care professional mentor."
