The RCN Foundation awarded a grant totalling £185,324 to UCLPartners for a care home quality improvement project that ran in 2018.
The project tested the implementation and use of the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) process in different settings in London, including three care homes.
ReSPECT focuses on the clinical needs of an individual patient. Those needs inform the development of personalised recommendations for future emergencies where the patient is unable to make or express choices.
The research team found that barriers to a London-wide implementation of such a process included lack of time for staff training, and difficulty in building a joined-up approach between care organisations.
To support staff in overcoming these barriers, the team developed and launched an easy-to-use app that supports users to go through the ResPECT process step-by-step, empowering them to create personalised emergency care plans for elder patients.