Exploring research participation in Scottish care homes since the COVID-19 pandemic

Knowledge about research participation in care homes is sparse. To explore research participation in Scottish care homes, including the potential barriers and facilitators, a short survey was distributed to all care homes in Scotland in 2014. The survey was repeated in 2022 as care homes emerged from the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This article provides a comparison of the results of the 2022 survey (45 responses) with those of the 2014 survey (130 responses); the surveys were completed by care home staff. The results indicate that there has been a slight increase in the proportion of care homes involved in research in the intervening period but overall, research participation has remained low in this sector. In the 2022 survey, the main factors identified as influencing a resident's decision to participate in research were 'to help others', 'to benefit the resident' and the 'resident's desire to participate'. The main obstacles to research participation by staff and/or residents were workload pressure and lack of time, which had increased significantly since the 2014 survey. The results reinforce the importance of ensuring care home staff feel equipped to participate in research.