Researchers have proposed a model to support the safe return of crowds to live events while reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Under the proposal, event organisers could manage a pre-event testing and surveillance scheme for entry to events. The scheme would be combined with predictive risk modelling to inform ticket holders and public health authorities of the risk of attending.

Physiotherapist Justin explains his journey into research
Justin Strain has and is leading an eventful life. Ex-Navy, RNLI volunteer, dad, children’s author – and now starting his exploration of applied research becoming an intern for  NIHR ARC Wessex.

Evidence isn’t all that matters – what we learnt about policy-making, and how to influence it
NIHR ARC North East and North Cumbria Research Fellows, Dr Mandy Cheetham and Dr Jenny Liddle share their reflections on how academics can influence policy, following a recent Policy Masterclass delivered by the Cabinet Office Open Innovation Team.

VIDEO: Leon shares his experience of working with PenARC
PenARC has a dedicated Patient and Public Involvement & Engagement Team who support researchers and students to involve patients, service users, carers and family members in their work. In this video, we hear from Leon, a stroke survivor, about his experience as a patient advisor.

Dear Jasmine… Addressing inequalities and biases in the early career research community
NIHR ARC North Thames researcher Dr Sarah Jasim has launched ‘The Lost Voices’, an initiative aiming to highlight the inequalities faced by the early-career researcher (ECR) community, and help enact institutional change. In this blog, Sarah shares her personal experiences and calls on the ECR community to share their stories.

Engaging more schools in mental wellbeing data collection and interventions
Researchers from NIHR ARC West Midlands’s Integrated Care in Youth Mental Health theme are looking at how to engage more schools in collecting data on children and young people’s mental health wellbeing, and barriers and facilitators linked with school-based mental health interventions and research. 

Collaborating with the public and local authorities on air quality and transport
Dr Andrew Turner, Senior Research Associate at NIHR ARC West, blogs about the development of the Clearways project which aims to understand how the cluster of issues around air quality, transport and active travel are understood by local authorities and the public. 

COVID vaccine controversies – what would Virchow say if he was alive today?
Prof Peter Littlejohns, NIHR ARC South London's deputy theme lead and public health theme lead discusses political controversies around COVID-19 vaccines.

Working with SARAH (the Strengthening and Stretching for Rheumatoid Arthritis of the Hand Programme)
Dr Esther Williamson reflects on her time developing the NIHR ARC Oxford and Thames Valley supported SARAH programme for people affected by Rheumatoid arthritis of the hand, the subject of a recent NIHR Evidence Alert.

COVID-19 has exacerbated existing inequalities
Social support services such as adult day care centres enable people living with dementia to stay at home for longer. NIHR ARC North West Coast Research Fellow Dr Clarissa Giebel discusses how COVID-19 has affected access to such services.

I’ve been asking experts around the world about implementation ...and it is changing how I see implementation
In October last year, Kristian Hudson, Implementation Specialist at the NIHR ARC Yorkshire and Humber, started asking experts around the world how they envisaged applying implementation frameworks to practical settings like those in the NHS.

Hosted by the NIHR ARC North East and North Cumbria, in partnership with ARC Greater Manchester, NIHR ARC Yorkshire and Humber, NIHR ARC North West Coast and NIHR ARC North Thames. With presentations from Professor Clare Cameron, University College London, on the Act Early Healthy livelihoods scheme; and Professor David Taylor-Robinson, University of Liverpool, on child poverty, adversity and health across the life course.

NIHR ARC East Midlands invites you to the finale of the ExTRAPPOLATE project, the End of Project Roadshow. This project aimed to find out: Can psychological therapy sessions be rated automatically? and What do patients and therapists think about it?

The Society for Academic Primary Care and the NIHR ARC Yorkshire and Humber's Mental and Physical Multimorbidity theme are hosting an online conference showcasing primary care mental health research currently being undertaken in the UK. It will focus on the following themes: ‘online spaces and green places’; ‘inequalities’; ‘connections and connecting’; ‘wellbeing and self-care’ and ‘adapting and transitioning’.

The programme will include a mixture of plenary sessions, workshops, oral presentations and posters by PROMs researchers from across the UK and internationally. The event will bring together leading experts and early career researchers to engage with the latest advances in the field of PROMs research and implementation.

Organised by NIHR ARC South London and now in its seventh year, the Masterclass is for health and social care professionals, researchers, patients and service users who want to make sure health and social care services routinely offer treatment and care based on the best research evidence.