Funding Awarded

Early Identification of Suicide and Self-Harm Risk and Comorbid Mental and PHysical Disorders: An INterdisciplinary TrAining, Research and InterventioN Programme (MHAINTAIN)

MHAINTAIN will create a research-through-training network addressing the need for doctoral training and career paths, to improving early identification and intervention of suicide and self-harm risk. The aim of this interdisciplinary consortium is to improve capacity building in the assessment of risk of suicide and self-harm...

PSychosis Ireland Structured Training and Research programme (PSI-STAR)

Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,  occur in about 3 in a hundred people and usually start in adolescence or young adulthood, greatly disrupting a young person's life in terms of education, social relationships and career outcomes. Because of the early age of onset and...

MIRANDA- Multidisciplinary Innovation and Research Advancing Neurological care in a Digital Age

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a degenerative disease of the nervous system, which affects one in 300 people in Ireland. Those affected lose their ability to use their arms, legs and voice, and eventually their ability to breathe. Some people also experience changes in thinking.

There...

Collaborative Doctoral Programme in Chronic Disease Prevention (CDP-CDP)

According to the WHO, chronic disease prevention is one of the major health challenges of the 21st century. Prevention programmes are urgently needed to reduce burden on patients and health services.

In Ireland, there is a national deficit in skills, leadership and capacity in the development, implementation and evaluation of...

Diabetic Foot Disease: from PRevention to treatment to IMproved patient Outcomes (DFD PRIMO)

Diabetic foot disease (DFD), is associated with devastating outcomes including foot ulceration, sepsis, amputation and premature death. The risk of premature death in people with DFD is reportedly nine fold the risk of amputation. Early interventions to prevent the first ulcer are a key priority of national and international clinical...

iPASTAR-Improving Pathways for Acute STroke And Rehabilitation

Stroke is a disease of enormous global significance. It is a major cause of death and the commonest form of acquired physical disability in adults. Fragmentation of care results in inadequate coordination of the fundamental components of acute stroke care and fails to provide an effective integrated system for acute and rehabilitative...

How can a multi-disciplinary prescribing strategy support appropriate prescribing of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) by Irish general practitioners (GPs)?

Malnutrition is a major burden to the Irish health service as malnourished patients have poorer health and are more expensive to treat than patients who are well-nourished. The annual cost of healthcare associated with malnutrition is approximately €1.4 billion in Ireland (10% of our total healthcare budget). Oral nutritional...

Doctoral program in youth mental health leadership (The YouLead Program)

This doctoral training program focuses on youth mental health research. Mental health difficulties (including depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia) account for approximately half of all causes of disability in individuals under the age of 35. Despite the fact that access to treatment is strongly associated with reduced risk...

"Right Care": a programme of research to enhance safe and appropriate care for older patients in Ireland

We propose a structured PhD training programme for multi-disciplinary health researchers on the topic of “Right Care” for older people. This research programme will examine how right care can be given at the right time and in the right setting, so that older people get the greatest benefit and the lowest harm from health interventions....

Neonatal Brain Injury Consortium Ireland

Neonatal brain injury has serious consequences including problems with development and cerebral palsy. Cooling or Hypothermia therapy is the only treatment available but half of all babies still have brain injury. All babies have detailed tests of their brain function using brain imaging and brainwave monitoring. They also have...

Managing complex multimorbidity in primary care: a multidisciplnary doctoral training programme

This application outlines a Structured Doctoral Training Programme for four PhD students with clinical and research backgrounds. The focus is on primary care delivery for patients who are referred to as having complex multimorbidity, which means that they have multiple long term conditions and are often on ten or more regular...

How can mental health services and primary care best collaborate to enhance physical health outcomes among patients presenting with first episode of psychosis? A mixed methods study

For people who experience a first episode psychosis, this is a critical event in their life. If they do not receive the appropriate treatment at an early stage of the illness, they will experience potentially serious health consequences - both physical and mental. Good collaboration between specialist mental health services and primary...

OPTI-MEND: Optimising early assessment and intervention by health and social care professionals in the emergency department (ED)

Emergency Departments (ED) face significant challenges in delivering high quality and timely patient care against a background of increasing patient numbers and limited hospital resources. A mismatch between patient demand and the hospital's capacity often leads to poor patient flow and ED crowding, resulting in a reduction in the...

MRCG support award

The Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG) is the national organization of 35 patient groups and foundations which promote an improved environment for medical research in general and for charities in particular, obtain funding for research projects, bring together organizations working in the field and disseminate the outcomes. Its...

Development of a mult-faceted approach to reducing and mitigating the risk of foreign object retention (FOR)

Over 1,000 Irish FOR incidents between 2011 and 2015 represent unnecessary suffering patients, reputational cost/damage to the healthcare service, institution and clinician and financial cost in claims and rework.
FOR is an intractable human factors problem because removing materials after a task is not integrated into the natural...

Supporting prescribing in Irish primary care: a non-randomised pilot study of a GP practice-based pharmacist medicines optimisation programme

Medication prescribing is one of the commonest medical interventions and there have been marked increases in patients taking multiple medicines with related adverse effects. We have developed an intervention involving practice based pharmacists working with GPs to optimise prescribing in Irish general practice settings.
Study...

MRCG interim support award

The Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG) is the national organization of 35 medical research patient-led charities formed to promote dynamic medical research in Ireland. The MRCG works in partnership with key stakeholders, such as the Health Research Board (HRB), to bring added value to the health research landscape. The MRCG is...

Making the patient a member of the healthcare team in chronic disease management: An ethnographic and participant action research analysis of living with epilepsy in Ireland (E-PIC: Epilepsy Partnership in Care)

Patient-centeredness is a core value of current and emerging health service reforms.  Patient-centred care (PCC) recognises people within the full context of their lives, not just their health condition. Its principles include: informing and involving patients, encouraging self-management and informed decision making, eliciting...

What are the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of different models of community specialist palliative care (CSPC) provision in Ireland?

Changing demographic trends including an ageing population, increased life expectancy for individuals with life limiting conditions, and the impact of illness on an individual's physical, psychological and social wellbeing means that the demand for high quality palliative care services is increasing. Palliative care is defined by WHO...

Can implementation of an emergency department monitoring and escalation protocol of adult patients in a large teaching hospital reduce the number of critical incidents and improve timely intervention in patients requiring a high level of care and improve

The HIQA Report on the investigation into the quality, safety and governance of the care provided by Tallaght Hospital for patients requiring acute admission has recommended that an Emergency Department-specific system of physiological monitoring and triggered responses comparable to the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) should be...

Supporting work participation through early intervention in patients with regional MSK pain

Background: Patients with regional musculoskeletal pain (RMSKP) are at risk for work disability and instability and associated social and financial deprivation. Early intervention targeting prevention of work disability has potential to enhance patient outcomes and the effectiveness of care, with positive spill over effects for...