Barbara Hanratty has been awarded the Strutt and Harper research grant from the British Medical Association

Posted on 6 December 2013

Barbara Hanratty has been awarded the Strutt and Harper research grant, from the British Medical Association, to investigate terminal care for non-cancer patients.

Barbara Hanratty and Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran

Working alongside Kate Flemming, her study will be entitled “Do older carers of patients dying with non-cancer diagnoses have different experiences and needs for support? A qualitative study” and will look at the role family carers play in palliative and terminal care and how they may hold the key to improving health services for older people.

As we are living longer, many carers are older adults with their own health problems. The aim of this study is to explore how the age of the carer influences the experiences of carer and patient at the end-of-life, and identify ways in which services can better support older carers.

The project is a qualitative study, using secondary data analysis of 90 existing in-depth interviews with young and older bereaved carers of older adults who have died from heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and stroke.

The work will provide new insights into how carer perceptions and experiences vary with age, to inform improvements to carer support and older patient care.

Barbara attended an awards ceremony at BMA house in London in November, where she was presented with her award by the president of the BMA, Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran.