Caring Homes Group has joined a national project designed to measure levels of common infections in care home residents, such as Covid-19, influenza, norovirus and urinary tract infections.

Originally launched in in 2020 to investigate Covid-19 infections in care homes, the VIVALDI Social Care Study is led by The Outstanding Society, University College London (UCL), and Care England.

Caring Homes operations director, Julie Mason said: “We’re delighted that 18 of our homes will be involved in this vital study, and we are keen to openly share our experience and expertise. I am reassured to know that the intention is for the care sector to retain control over how the data can be used, and that the focus will be on learning how use the findings of the study to support people who live and work in care homes. Our homes being at the heart of research improves outcomes in the long term.”

The study will access data from over 800 residential and nursing homes across the country to create an anonymous database along with analysis to develop a better picture of the current impact of infections on care homes and how this can be reduced.

You can find out about the VIVALDI Social Care Study here.