Projects to connect researchers with community and voluntary organisations to share knowledge and develop new insights to enhance wellbeing and delivery of services.
Ten projects from NUI Galway have received funding of more than €113,000 from the Irish Research Council to connect researchers with community and voluntary organisations.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wellbeing of different groups in society and on the delivery of services is a significant theme within the research projects being announced; other projects include remote management of heart failure, access to cardiac care online, therapeutic care needs for mild dementia and the prevention and treatment of post-partum haemmorage.
10 funded projects include:
- Dr Barry McDermott, Engineering and Informatics, who will work in partnership with Busitema University on a novel low-cost, robust device for the prevention and treatment of post-partum haemorrhage in low resource settings.
- Dr Sinéad Hynes, Occupational Therapy, who will work with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland to develop recommendations and identify what the future care needs of older LGTBQI+ people living with dementia in Ireland are.
- Dr Haroon Zafar, School of Medicine and BioInnovate Ireland, who will be part of a research collaboration with Croí, the Heart and Stroke Charity on the remote management of heart failure during Covid-19 through ‘telehealth’.
- Dr Orla Dolan, Occupational Therapy, whose research will look at an evidence base for meeting therapeutic care needs using Virtual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy with individuals living with mild to moderate dementia residing in the community in Ireland.
- Dr Oonagh Meade, School of Psychology, who will partner with Croí Heart and Stroke Charity who have developed 'MySláinte', a new cardiac rehabilitation programme delivered online to ensure equal access to cardiac rehabilitation in Ireland.
Professor Jim Livesey, vice-president of research and innovation at NUI Galway, said: “Collaborative partnerships with community and voluntary organisations in civic society are integral to research at NUI Galway.
Openness
"These community organisations bring new energy and innovation to our research, and as partners we work together to find solutions that enhance their services. Openness is one of our core strategic values.”
Along with the strand engaging civic society, the New Foundations scheme also includes strands supported by government departments and agencies. In each of the past three years, a dedicated strand of the call provides opportunities for researchers to work on important areas of policy, including global development, crime, creativity and children.
Director of the Irish Research Council Peter Brown said: “The ongoing partnership between the Irish Research Council and the Department of Foreign Affairs under this programme is very welcome and continues to build a pipeline of research collaborations for future projects that support enhanced co-operation between the global north and global south, focusing on innovative responses to global challenges within the framework of the 2030 agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals."
Since 2015, more than 200 community, voluntary and charity organisations have engaged across various Irish Research Council programmes, 278 projects have been funded with an associated investment in excess of €6.5 million.