The Rehabilitation and Respiratory Research Cluster has over 30 research active staff undertaking multi-disciplinary research in exercise and rehabilitation, and respiratory diseases and conditions. Our research is undertaken with partners in different settings including NHS/healthcare, community, schools and sporting contexts and contributes to solving real world problems.
It builds on the University of Derby’s Research Excellence Framework submission in 2021 in Allied Health Professionals (Unit of Assessment 3), where the quality of research has been externally rated as 'internationally excellent'. Our research aims to benefit local communities and a range of stakeholders across health, rehabilitation, respiratory, physical activity and sports performance contexts.
Our aims
The Clinical Exercise and Rehabilitation Research Centre has over 50 active researchers who undertake internationally excellent research. This includes our Rehabilitation and Respiratory Diseases Research Cluster.
In our research into clinical exercise and rehabilitation, we have an extensive blend of academics who specialise in rehabilitation from multiple perspectives such as elite sport performance, strength and conditioning, coaching and psychology, and sports and physiotherapy. Our research expertise also includes specific areas/conditions including viral reactivation, type 1 diabetes, neurodisability and stroke rehabilitation, strength, balance and fall prevention in adults. Our researchers have experience of orthopaedic and musculoskeletal conditions including metatarsophalangeal joint replacement with adults and running injuries and injury prevention with elite military units and exercise immunology.
Our researchers within respiratory diseases specialise in respiratory conditions from multiple perspectives with different populations. Our research expertise includes COPD, COVID-19, Long-COVID, Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT) as well as immunology and upper respiratory infection with elite athletes.
Our collaborations in the Rehabilitation and Respiratory Diseases Research Cluster include a vast network of national and international academic institutions, industry partners, healthcare providers and organisations, third sector organisations, the military, including elite armed forces and research councils. Our research takes place in a range of health-related settings and contexts including specialist centres and healthcare settings, sports institutions, community health providers and military establishments.
Our research
Patient perceptions and understanding of pressure ulcer rusk within community settings - Dr Lisa Ledger
Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a key priority area for healthcare institutions, representing a patient safety issue, but despite global campaigns around awareness, incidence remains high. PUs are associated with ill health, poor mobility and reduced quality of life. Increasingly, patients are required to be aware of their PU risk and to self-manage their conditions, with a need to increase patient involvement in decision-making to promote adherence. To date, research is limited regarding patients’ own understanding of their risk, with majority of research focused on the healthcare professional view.
Dr Lisa Ledger's study aimed to address the following research questions:
- What are patient perceptions and understanding of their PU risk?
- What factors affect their adherence or non-adherence to prevention strategies in community settings?
The study revealed four key overarching themes related to patient understanding of PU risk and potential factors affecting adherence to advice as: Pressure Ulcer Awareness, Risk & Prevention Knowledge, Patient Factors & Adherence, The Nursing Encounter and The Nursing Approach. Novel findings included that whilst patients understood PU risk in a basic sense, this did not necessarily secure adherence due to other patient related factors, such as pain, mood affects, fatigue, fear of falling and carer dependency. The study observed two overall nursing approaches: a closed directive and a more open participatory approach. Use of an open participatory nursing approach was pivotal in securing trust and enabling acknowledgement of dynamic patient related factors as part of shared decision-making.
The study provides important new insights for clinical practice in relation to how PU information and advice is provided and how decision-making occurs between nurse and patient and the effect of this on adherence. The findings were translated into a new conceptual risk model of PU prevention that places the patient perspective alongside the nursing perspective in partnership, with an open participatory nursing approach used to support shared decision-making.
Effects of Inspiratory muscle training on performance and health related outcomes - Dr Francesco Ferraro and Dr Mark Faghy
Inspiratory muscle training has been adopted for over two decades as a cost-effective intervention to improve athletes' functional mobility, balance, performance and enhance respiratory and quality of life-related outcomes in different conditions (such as COPD and cardiovascular diseases) (Beaumont et al., 2018; McConnell, 2013; Romer & McConnell, 2003). For this reason, IMT has been defined as a holistic intervention designed to strengthen the inspiratory muscles via specific inhalation resistances (Shei et al., 2022).
The literature and research on IMT are extremely broad, and with the advance of technology, novel and innovative forms of IMT have been developed (Minahan et al., 2015). However, there is still a lack of evidence on why improvements in inspiratory muscle strength enhance mobility and how IMT intervention should be specifically prescribed and used alone or in combination with other forms of training. There is also a lack of evidence on what mechanism links improvements in inspiratory muscle strength with higher performance results.
To answer these questions, to keep up to date with the population's needs and to further understand the role of inspiratory muscles in functions such as balance, mobility and time trial performance a series of studies and projects have been carried out within national and international collaborations, including research in diabetes patients, older adults, COPD patients and asthmatic patients. These projects included the recent publication in the European Respiratory Review (Severin et al., 2022) and the invitation to present our results at the University of Valencia (SPA) (Sheraz & Ferraro, 2022).
Join us
If you are interested in our research and would like to find out more, would like to join our research cluster or are applying for a MPhil/PhD in this research area, please contact Research Centre Lead Professor Andy Pringle (a.pringle@derby.ac.uk) or Deputy Research Centre Leads Dr Lisa Ledger (L.Ledger@derby.ac.uk) and Dr Jack Parker (J.Parker@derby.ac.uk) for more information.
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