King's College London

This Centre of Excellence, funded by the charity Kentown Support, will undertake and disseminate high quality research and provide evidenced- based education and training for health and social care professionals and family members caring for children and young people with life-limiting conditions. Life-limiting conditions (LLC) are serious health conditions in which the child's life may be shortened.

The project involves the following workstreams:

1. Capacity Building through funded PhD students
2. Building the Evidence base – primary research social care

This study will identify recommendations and priorities for improving social care for children with life-limiting conditions and their families. The project involves interviews with parents, focus groups with professionals and priority setting workshops.

3. Economic Evaluation of the Kentown Support Service (KSS) in Greater Manchester

This study will utilise nationally collected healthcare data and primary data collection from families to assess the impact of the new Kentown support service (a new model of community palliative care) on emergency healthcare use and associated costs for children with life-limiting conditions in Greater Manchester and quality of life for children and families.

4. Education and Training for Parent carers

This study will involve a survey with parent carers to understand their education, support and training needs.

5. Patient and Public Involvement

We meet regularly with our parent advisory board who are supporting all aspects of our research across the Kentown programme.