Research

Our research interests focus primarily on patients with cardiovascular and other long-term conditions. These include:

• exercise and physical activity as therapy for patients with heart disease, stroke, COPD and other conditions;
• adherence to physical activity;
• management and self-management of heart failure and comorbid heart disease and diabetes;
• palliative care in long term conditions;
• cardiovascular prevention
• services led by nurses, midwives and allied health professionals.

 

Professor Deaton’s research interests focus on management of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and other cardiovascular conditions, exercise and physical activity as therapy for patients with heart failure and other long term conditions, adherence to physical activity, cardiovascular prevention, and nurse- or therapist-led services. Current research includes a programme of work to improve management of patients with HFpEF, Optimise HFpEF – Website

Current funded research includes:

• Optimising Management of Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction in Primary Care (Optimise-HFpEF). Deaton C, Mant J, Hobbs R, Wellwood I, Chew-Graham C, van Marwijk H, Blakeman T, Edwards D.  Funded by NIHR National School for Primary Care Research October 2017 – June 2020 £633,846.  http://www.phpc.cam.ac.uk/pcu/nihr-award-research-improve-management-congestive-heart-failure/
• Management of Patients with Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF): What do Patients and Providers Need and Want?. Deaton C, Wellwood I, Edwards D, Benson J, Loades J. Funded by the NIHR/School for Primary Care Research 2017 – 2018.
• The Tip of the Iceberg: Identifying Patients with Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) in Primary Care. Deaton C, Wellwood I, Roland M, Griffin S, Zaman J. Funded by the NIHR/School for Primary Care Research March – December 2016.
• Development of an intervention to increase utilisation of Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) in primary care. (PB-PG-1215-10110). Fuld J, Early F, McKee H, Wellwood I, Jongpier L, Barlow R, Deaton C, Wilson P, Doble B, Barrow S, Singh S.  Funded by RfPB 2017 – 2019.

This new NIHR Research for Patient Benefit funded research study aims to develop an intervention for primary care to increase the number of patients with COPD who are referred to and take up an offer of pulmonary rehabilitation.  The team is led by Dr Jonathan Fuld at Cambridge University Hospitals and is a collaboration including Professor Christi Deaton, Dr Ian Wellwood and Dr Susan Barrow from the Primary Care Unit, Dr Frances Early (CUH and PCU affiliated), the British Lung Foundation, University of Kent, University Hospitals of Leicester and pulmonary rehabilitation providers in the East of England.  Low rates of referral and uptake to pulmonary rehabilitation are a major barrier to patients obtaining benefit from this well evidenced treatment.  The £150,000 award will enable the team to conduct research with patients, carers and clinicians to identify practical ways to increase referral and uptake and build these into an accessible online toolkit of resources that can be integrated with working practices in primary care. The study will begin in Spring 2017.

• The group is also collaborating in systematic reviews of rehabilitation and interventions for exercise adherence in patients with heart failure, stroke, and COPD.