CHARM

Welcome to the CHARM website.

CHARM (Care Home Action Researcher-in-Residence Model) is an exciting research project funded by the Alzheimer’s Society and Dunhill Medical Trust. The project aims to support collaborative research between care homes and researchers, supporting staff, visitors and residents in care homes to design and implement their own unique and meaningful research.

Logos for the Alzheimer's Society and Dunhill Medical Trust

Two ‘researchers in residence’ (Isabelle Latham and Faith Frost) have worked closely with four care home, each from a different care provider and co-applicant to the project: Assured Healthcare Solutions Ltd, Hallmark Care Homes, Sanctuary Care and Care UK.

Over the course of the project, each care home has designed and delivered 2 mini-research studies in their own homes with the help of the researchers in residence. In addition, the CHARM team have evaluated the impact and functioning of the model with the aim of promoting research cultures in care homes.

With care home topics ranging from garden design to staff support the projects have been fun, useful and hard work – not least because CHARM’s original 1-year timeline was interrupted by the pandemic!

Find out more by exploring the following sections (please note that some sections are currently in development and content will be added in due course):

If you have downloaded the CHARM manual and would like to share how you are using it and what difference it has made in practice, please complete this short survey. We would also appreciate it is some people would be willing to share their experiences in a bit more detail. If this sounds like something you would like to do, please complete the survey and provide your contact details at the end. Thank you!