Redeploying expertise: the story of two UK DRI secondments during Covid-19

As with research across the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted work to combat some of the most pressing health challenges we face as a society, including dementia. At our Care Research and Technology Centre, efforts quickly shifted to tackling the urgent need for mass testing and finding inventive ways of supporting the dementia community that they work so closely with. In order to rise to the challenge effectively, the team quickly realised they would need to draw on skills and support from elsewhere in the UK DRI network. Here we hear from two UK DRI researchers who were seconded to the centre in order to help with these initiatives.

Our Care Research and Technology Centre was established to empower people with dementia and their caregivers by creating dementia-friendly ‘healthy homes’ – intelligent environments that transform and personalise care. The Covid-19 crisis has had a huge impact on how people interact with each other, including how carers support people living with dementia. Our team recognised this was a pressing matter that needed to be urgently addressed.

First of all, we responded by developing and repurposing robotic automation devices to scale up Covid-19 testing at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and North West London Pathology. The team then used these testing platforms to assist with an outbreak investigation across care homes, conducting regular testing for patients and staff. The investigation led to a publication identifying an urgent need for coronavirus testing in care homes across the country.

Soon after, the team embarked on a collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society’s Innovation Team to provide virtual support for people affected by dementia. Working with designers from the Helix centre, and the University of Worcester, the group identified technology to help mitigate the impact of isolation during lockdown. This included virtual services that give people affected by dementia access to entertainment, physical exercise, discussions as well as support and information from the safety of their own homes.

Determined to make a swift impact with these projects, the team reached out to other UK DRI centres for support. The call was answered by Jane Tulloch (Lab and Animal Manager in the lab of Prof Tara Spires-Jones in Edinburgh), and Dr Alinda Fernandes (Postdoc in the lab of Prof Chris Shaw Group at King’s). Both were temporarily seconded as Project Managers between April and July.

Annora Thoeng, Technician and Communication Officer at our centre at King’s, spoke to Jane and Alinda about these unique opportunities.

Please tell us more about your secondments and the projects you are supporting.

Jane: “I was part of a fascinating, intense and very fast-moving project focused on testing in four care homes that had seen an increase in positive Covid-19 cases. Multiple collaborators with different areas of expertise came together very quickly and worked brilliantly to form a strong, efficient team, who made a big idea become a reality in a matter of days. I scheduled meetings, liaised with our many collaborators, vendors and community-based stakeholders, troubleshooting along the way and supporting Project Directors to help drive this project forward.”

Alinda: “I'm currently working on an initiative which aims to create a ‘Virtual Community Centre’ for people affected by dementia while in isolation. Part of this project involves setting up an 'online meeting place' for the UK DRI dementia cohort within the Centre. This is a collaborative project between the Care Research and Technology Centre, The Helix Centre (a company specialising in healthcare technologies based at Imperial) and Alzheimer's Society. My role was to first create a 'Roadmap' for the project where we collaboratively established key milestones, smaller goals and timeframes. In parallel, I've helped put the necessary data protection documentation in place for the cohort and am currently looking at how we can evaluate project success and measure impact.”

What main skills do your regular and seconded roles share?

Jane: “There has been a lot of ‘on the job’ learning, not only due to the role change but also because of the unknowns associated with this virus, especially at the start of the project when there were so many elements that were new to us all. There are many parallels between the roles - being organised and following up every task is essential, and flexibility when a change of direction is needed is also important.”

Alinda: “Grant writing. The team had limited grant proposal experience before so I’m pleased to share thoughts and ideas from a 'fresh perspective'. The grant proposal aimed to enable the establishment of online dementia communities across the UK and equip 'community-makers' with the resources needed to make this happen.”

What is the most important thing you’ve learned?

Jane: “I think it has been a fantastic reminder of what amazing things people are capable of achieving. There were so many very complicated logistics and extreme time pressures that were overcome by the team to complete this project. I also like to think a subsidiary skill I picked up is to remain focused and unflustered at all times during Zoom/Teams meetings whilst ‘motivating’ my 12-year old son (and fellow home-office mate) with post-it notes reminding him to focus on school work! We are still friends…”

Alinda: “A skill that I enhanced is adaptability. This was the first time I've worked on a project completely remotely, having never met the team in person. Everyone was lovely and it has been rewarding to see the project progress during this period. We checked in daily, which strengthened team spirit and propelled the project outcomes! Also, I was able to grasp concepts that were new to me quickly and make significant contributions to the project within a two-month period.”

Finally, what do you think about these unique UK DRI cross-centre opportunities?

Jane: “It’s been a fantastic, unexpected experience which has strengthened my can-do attitude. I think there are quite a few members of the Covid-19 care home testing team who have said to me, “can you believe that all of this was really achieved in such a short time?” On reflection, it is still quite amazing what the team achieved and I’ll look back on this and be encouraged to say “Yes, let’s do this” more often in future. I will definitely take a new set of skills back to the lab with me. Also, building trust and forming solid relationships with colleagues and working within a strong team has been key; I think this is a great example of why the UK DRI exists, people with complementary skill sets coming together to produce fantastic work and knowledge which will hopefully be beneficial to others.”

Alinda: “This experience has been very different from my wet-lab work where the aim is to find treatments that will prevent the disease or its progression, which will help in future for those affected by dementia. Through this secondment, I have had the opportunity to make a positive difference to existing groups with the condition. Emerging data have demonstrated that the current crisis has accelerated the progression of dementia due to social isolation, at least in some individuals. While targeting the disease on a cellular and molecular level is very important, I've learnt that the work of the team at the Care Research and Technology Centre is equally vital. I've always been a big supporter of 'combinatorial therapies' and I believe that tackling the disease both medically and mentally will be the most effective disease-modifying treatment for dementia. I'm proud to be part of the UK DRI which brings both these approaches together!”

Article written by Annora Thoeng from UK DRI at KCL  
Article published: 17 August 2020 
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