A UK-wide research project to look at the experiences of case managers and clients during the COVID-19 pandemic has been launched.
The initiative will gather personal accounts of people living with brain injuries and their support networks during the pandemic, from lockdown to the present day, reflecting on how people have changed and adapted during that time.
The study, spearheaded by BABICM, will assess how case managers and clients alike found the availability of support and access to services during the past few months, and how challenges were responded to and overcome.
Focus groups and interviews will be held as a forum for stories to be shared, and the findings will be collated to help form research into the challenges and responses to the COVID-19 by the case management community.
The project will comprise three phases – case manager focus groups; interviews between case managers and clients; and interviews between researchers and clients.
Ben Needham-Holmes, part of the BABICM research sub-group, alongside researchers from Plymouth University, which is expected to begin before the end of the year.
“The ethos behind the research is really to draw out the personal accounts of experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspectives of case managers, people with brain injuries and their support networks. We will look at factors including how case management practice changed and adapted, access to services for those who needed it, how challenges were dealt with and the positive outcomes that were achieved,” says Ben.
“People who have sustained brain injuries can be vulnerable at the best of times and often require quite a significant support structure around them. The changes and new restrictions on how we live our lives have understandably therefore had a considerable impact on them and those around them. We want to help capture these stories to help inform our research and future practice.”
Although the initial lockdown period is now over, restrictions continue to exist across the UK, which is something the research hopes to reflect.
“We are now in a position where we can reflect on the period of time where a lot of changes had to be made at often very short notice, how this was done and how rehab and support were affected, both for the positive and negative, which is why we are embarking on this project now,” says Ben.
“But although the initial full lockdown period is over, we are very aware that for many people, severe restrictions are continuing, and regional lockdowns and the tiering system are an important consideration within our research. Through personal accounts, we can look at factors like whether resilience was built during the first lockdown for subsequent challenges, and how this was done.”
The three-phase project will take place over a number of months, with participants already signed up from across the country.
“The first phase will begin with case manager focus groups, where we will have a maximum of five per group, where we will look at challenges at practitioner level. We’ll assess how they were able to respond when forced into remote working and how practices have changed in light of that,” continues Ben.
“Stage two will be where case managers will identify clients and their support networks to speak to so that their experiences during COVID-19 can be explored. The case manager will have a strong rapport already in place, so they will be best placed to carry out this part of the research, although training will be given beforehand in what we hope to gather.”
“The final stage will involve an interview with the client and a representative from Plymouth University. This will build on the findings of the previous interview, but will reduce any potential bias from speaking to their case manager who they already know, and importantly will also allow the person to share any further viewpoints or ideas that were stimulated by the previous interview.”
The research will then be shared both in academic and professional forums, adds Ben.
“Once we have analysed the findings and drawn out the key themes and looked at consensus we plan to seek publication in Journals and to disseminate this information to the case management industry. Our hope is that this will bring awareness to the challenges faced by people who have sustained a brain injury and their support networks during COVID-19. In addition we hope that the research helps to inform future case management practice.” he says.
“Our hope is to continue with this research, even once this initial project is complete. The ongoing changes as a result of COVID-19 will definitely mean we can look at creating a ‘phase 2’ to look at the continuing impact of lockdown and restrictions.”
* To take part in the COVID-19 research project, BABICM members can register interest with Ben Needham-Holmes at bneedhamholmes@bushco.co.uk by November 6.
