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Fiona Marshall

NIHR ARC EM Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

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Biography

I am a research fellow, working on COVID-19 research across the East Midlands. The first study examined the perceptions and experiences of care home managers as they sought to respond to the pandemic. This study has now completed with the first publication listed below. Findings from this work identified the importance of local networks, consistent, timely, relevant guidance during the pandemic and the need for local level authorities to support the sector. The second COVID-19 study will seek to examine the design and delivery of a care pathway for rural people experiencing post-COVID-19 Syndrome. This work starts April 2021 and is located across the Derbyshire Dales.

The majority of my work focuses on the ways in which people with dementia and their families manage their everyday lives so I don't just work in NHS or Social Care settings. I am often found out in the depths of the more rural and remote parts of England as I'm really interested in how people living in the more rural regions receive care. More recently I have worked on large cross-disciplinary studies which tend to include a range of different ways of examining an issue by use of a range of approaches which when pulled together can generate ideas for useful problem solving. My main academic interests are ethnography, human geography, health and place, well-being and quality of life.

I have worked on a number of large studies, including the NIHR Programme Grant Medical Crisis in Older People (MCOP); NIHR HS & DR Community In-reach Rehabilitation And Care Transition (CIRACT); NIHR HS & DR Knowledge sharing across the boundaries of between care processes, services and organisations: the contributions towards safe hospital discharge and reduced emergency readmission; British Academy Fear and Loathing in the Acute Hospital?.

More recently, I have been occupied with my Alzheimer's Society Senior Research Fellowship (2015-19) Scaling the Peaks. This study uses mixed methods to understand the complexities of rural dementia by use of ethnography, human geography and geo-spatial science.

My particular interests are in the design and delivery of alternative forms of dementia care, in the community, which are often provided by Third Sector or Community Interest Companies (CICs). Currently I am exploring the work of Agricultural based dementia care, which includes "care farms" as a potentially viable way of supporting sustainable local communities and helping to keep people with dementia in their own localities.

Expertise Summary

I am a member of the Rural Dementia Charter working group as part of the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge.

I am also a member of the BBC World Service Dementia Group.

I act as a reviewer for several peer reviewed journals.

Teaching Summary

I contribute towards the Msc. in Mental Health Research and supervise post-graduate students.

Research Summary

NIHR Research Fellow Public Health Knowledge Mobilisation (PI: Liz Such)

Dr Fiona Marshall is working with public health organisations to examine the ways in which evidenced-based knowledge is transferred into practice to inform decision-making at local levels.

Recent Publications

  • FIONA MARSHALL and LAURA EDWARDS, 2022. The effects of animal assisted therapy on the health and wellbeing of military veterans textendash a systematic scoping review and recommendations for future research People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice.
  • MARSHALL, F, GORDON AL and GLADMAN JRF, 2021. Care homes, their communities, and resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: interim findings from a qualitative study. BMC Geriatrics. (In Press.)
  • MARSHALL F, 2020. Farm Based Care: Providing Meaningful Activities as an Alternative to “Standard Day Care” in the UK. In: INNES A, MORGAN D and FARMER J, eds., Remote and Rural Dementia Care Policy Press, Bristol.
  • SPILSBURY K, DEVI R, GRIFFITHS A, AKRILL C, ASTLE A, GOODMAN C, GORDON A, HANRATTY B and ET AL, 2020. SEeking AnsweRs for Care Homes during the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID SEARCH) Age Ageing. afaa201

Past Research

Principal Investigator

July 2015- June 2019

Alzheimer's Society, UK.

"Scaling the Peaks; Understanding the barriers and drivers to providing and using dementia friendly community services in rural areas: the impact of location, cultures and community in the Peak District National Park on sustaining service innovations"

Ref; AS-SF-14-005 £279, 112.00

Lead Investigator

February 2015- June 2015

Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.

Improving the Health Outcomes of People with Dementia who are in crisis in the East Midlands. Ref; GEMCSU/14/60 £29,500.

Principal Investigator

March 2015-June 2016

Alzheimer's Society and Hardwick CCG.

Dementia Friendly GP Practices: Independent Evaluation £11,200.

Research Associate

December 2014- June 2015University of Derby

Jointly funded by NHS England and five CCGs in Derby and Derbyshire to provide research activities related to the direct needs of the local community in terms of health and social care organisation.

Research Associate

December 2014-April 2015

Ambient Assisted Living Programme. Elders UP! Adaptive systems for enabling the elderly collaborative knowledge transference to small companies. International project 2013-16.

Joint work with Clevercherry Ltd, Birmingham to design online collaborative workspace. £14,000.

Principal Investigator

January 2013-September 2015

University of Nottingham Business School

British Academy Small Grants Award- SG112132: £8,604.

Fear and Loathing in the Acute Hospital? The recognition and maintence of empathy during the discharge process towards frail older people.

Key Themes: Acute stroke care, empathy, communication, patient perceptions, ethnography.

Research Fellow

June 2011 - June 2014

University of Nottingham - Nottingham UK

Managed and undertook qualitative strand of two research studies within the Nottingham University Business School;

HS&DR - 11/1023/10: The CIRACT (Community In-reach Rehabilitation And Care Transition) Clinical and Cost Effectiveness study

Key Themes: Rehabilitation, In-reach, Community, In-patients, RCT/mixed methods

http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/projects/hsdr/11102310

HS&DR - 10/1007/01: Knowledge sharing across the boundaries between care processes, services and organisations: the contributions to safe hospital discharge and reduced emergency readmission

Key Themes: care decision-making across boundaries, Community, Acute, qualitative methods.

http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/projects/hsdr/10100701

Research Fellow

May 2009 - June 2011

School of Medicine, University of Nottingham

HS&DR - 08/1809/227: Care of Older People with Cognitive Impairment in General Hospitals (Medical Crisis Older People)

Key Themes; qualitative research, Older people, dementia, acute care

http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/projects/hsdr/081809227

Research Associate

January 2007 - February 2009

School of Nursing, University of Nottingham

University of Nottingham funded study; The Recognition of dying in acute hospital settings; an observational study of professionals within acute wards.

Key Themes; older people, acute care, dying, qualitative research

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