About Us
The Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Research Unit (NMAHP RU) is funded by the Scottish Government's Health Directorates, Chief Scientist Office. It has academic bases within Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Stirling.
NMAHP RU focuses its activity on strong programmes of research that will impact on NMAHP Practice and benefit patient and population health. Following the Unit’s recent successful Scientific Review, its activity has been consolidated into two new programmes: Interventions and Quality and Deliver of Care.
Following the Unit’s successful review it has commenced a new research strategy to build upon the challenges of delivering healthcare in the 21st century. The website is in the process of being updated to reflect these changes. The new programmes of work are outlined below.
The Unit has capitalised on synergies between its previous programmes (Decision Making, Stroke, Urogenital and Mental Health), to respond to patient priorities which address both physical and mental health needs. The NMAHP Research Unit’s new research agenda arranges its research and translational activities across two key programmes with senior staff leading cognate areas of activity within and across the programmes. The Unit’s new research programmes:-
- NMAHP Interventions
- Quality and Delivery of Care
These programmes encompass an existing body of work in the cross cutting themes of maternal care, urogenital disorders, mental health and stroke. These programmes will also continue to reflect the remit of the Unit in terms of its relevance to direct patient care.
NMAHP Interventions
This programme of work builds on many of the current key strengths of the NMAHP Research Unit in evaluating NMAHP care and therapy interventions. This programme will focus on interventions that affect many people, and/or interventions which have the potential to demonstrate substantial impact on patients' health and wellbeing. This programme also includes attention to interventions that enhance the skills of NMAHP professionals, as well as technological interventions to improve patient outcomes. Work within this programme will cluster around research on fundamental care and therapy interventions, and methodological innovation. The Strategic Director for this programme is Professor Suzanne Hagen.
Quality and Delivery of Care
This programme is about the quality and delivery of care in areas of high impact, reflecting patient priorities, and meeting key policy and practice objectives. It focuses on who delivers care; where it is delivered; and how to improve clinical effectiveness and professional practice.
The ways in which professionals and patients make decisions about care is a central element of this programme. The programme builds on previous work that has been carried out to examine and improve the various forms of decision making that occur in clinical practice.
A key influence on the delivery of care is the recognised importance of the patient experience and patient involvement. These perspectives are included in this programme and their influence on NMAHP practice and their involvement in healthcare decisions is part of the work we are taking forward on informed and shared decision making. The Strategic Director for this programme is Professor Margaret Maxwell.
RemitThe remit of the Unit is:
- To develop a high quality research agenda which is useful and relevant to direct patient care
- To provide a strong national focus for patient care research
- To involve nurses and other direct care staff where appropriate in its research