Background

In response to the recommendations of the NCRI’s Strategic Planning Group on actions to strengthen research into Supportive and Palliative Care (SuPaC) in the UK, two NCRI SuPaC Research Collaboratives have been established: the Compass Collaborative and the Cancer Experiences Collaborative.

The Cancer Experiences Collaborative (CECo) aims to make substantive progress in building research capacity by addressing three inter-related research themes:

• Innovative approaches to complex symptoms
• Older Adults and Supportive and Palliative Care
• Narratives of cancer and life limiting illness

In addition to the Capacity Building activities undertaken by the three themes, there are some more central activities delivered by the Collaborative. The second year of the Collaborative saw a significant progress in the Capacity Building work.

Progress to date:

1. The second round of our Scholarship Award was successful in awarding another 2 individuals who have expressed their wish to embark on a career in SuPac research.
2. Master classes in topical requested areas (i.e. ethical issues in SuPac research – Manchester, palliative care research in the community – (joint master class with COMPASS),Edinburgh and evaluation of complex intervention – Southampton
3. Workshop – Introduction to research in palliative care – Liverpool
4. Doctoral and post-doctoral researchers 24 hour meeting March 2008
5. The third PhD/post-doctoral workshop is planned to take place in March 2009, in Manchester, (further information will be posted in our Events section soon). The content and structure of this meeting will be planned after seeking the views of participants from the two previous meetings
6. A session dealing with the Capacity Building activities is planned for the next annual meeting ( 21-22 April 2009). It is planned to invite all four CECo scholars to briefly present their work. Furthermore, it is planned to hold some discussions around service users’ involvement in SuPac research
7. In order to address the research education needs of staff working for our collaborators (mainly hospices’ staff), CECo together with Help the Hospices organised the first meeting of people from different hospices who discussed their current education needs in relation to research. The aim of the meeting was to engage participants in discussing the current research education needs and to gather information about research needs that will be used to both CECo and Help the Hospices in developing educational programmes for hospices. The event was a great success. 18 delegates attended; the focus group yielded very clear messages for future consideration, and it was very highly rated by the participants. A final report with a list of recommendations will be available following the next round of discussions in London on the 22nd October, (see Events to the left of this page for more information)

Where are we going?

1. A master class dealing with evaluating end of life programmes and services is planned for 12-13 March 2009 in Lancaster. This will be facilitated by Pat Reiker (Boston, USA) along with other presentations. (More information about this event will be posted in "Events" soon)
2. It is planned to organise a Master Class on recruiting research partners from BME groups – second half of 2009
3. Following the Mater class on ‘Evaluating complex intervention’ (June 2008, Southampton) there was a suggestion to plan another master class (possibly together with COMPAS) to discuss issues around RCTs
4. Based on the success of the above mentioned events it is planned to hold similar events in different parts of the country to increase participation of individuals who found it difficult to attend
   

PhD/post-doctoral workshop

Following positive feedback from CECo’s first 24-hour workshop for doctoral and post-doctoral researchers, the event has now been established on an annual basis. A second workshop on strategies for developing a career in research was held in March 2008 with 35 participants. CECo Scholars and members of CECo universities contemplating PhD studies were also given the opportunity to attend.

I first joined CECo as a graduate working in my first research role. This experience has been invaluable as it has given me the opportunity to meet with researchers at every stage of their career, providing an advice and support network within a field I was very new to. Of particular benefit was a 24-hour research priming event for graduate researchers I attended. The workshops and informal networking provided me with a wealth of information about the PhD experience and process, from the perspective of students and supervisors alike, and it was here that I received the support and encouragement to apply for a PhD position that I successfully achieved.
Suzanne Vaughan, Research Associate, Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University

Mentorship

CECo continues to actively pursue mentorship activities with key groups.

Members of the Executive Team and senior co-applicants are providing mentorship to post-doctoral researchers (including CECo research fellows) and senior lecturers identified as ‘tomorrow’s leaders’ in supportive and palliative care research. Examples include: Prof. Julia Addington-Hall (CECo Co-director) (Dr J Hopkinson, Dr G Grande); Prof. Sheila Payne (CECo Codirector) (Dr C Walshe, Dr D Fenlon, Dr S Brearley); Prof. J Seymour (CECo Executive Team) (Dr A Bingley); Prof. K Luker (CECo Co-applicant/Senior Advisor) (Dr J Hopkinson, Dr C Bailey, Dr C Walshe); Prof J Corner (CECo Co-applicant/Senior Advisor) (Dr K Froggatt).

CECo’s five research fellows are continuing to receive mentorship from experienced colleagues within the Collaborative and are themselves making an increasingly important contribution to mentorship for new and emerging researchers. John Hughes (complex symptoms theme, University of Liverpool), for example, is providing mentorship to research students in the Academic Palliative and Supportive Care Studies Group (APSCSG) at the University of Liverpool, to doctoral students at other universities, and to hospices developing the research skills of their staff. Sarah Brearley (complex symptoms theme, University of Manchester), is providing research mentorship and support for clinicians at the Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, including preparation for PhD vivas and practical advice on conducting qualitative research and gaining research ethics and governance approvals. Katherine Froggatt (older adults theme, Lancaster University), has successfully worked with hospice nursing staff to gain a CECo Scholarship and carry out research into the symptom experience of older people residing in nursing homes. In total, CECo fellows have mentorship arrangements with 21 hospice clinicians and other practitioners, 12 new researchers and research students, and 10 research partners.