Dr Julie Latchem-Hastings

(she/her)

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

Research Overview

Julie's research focusses on the wellbeing, care and rehabilitation of people with long-term conditions - particular under researched communities/populations. She is particularly interested in using her resaerch to develop allied health professional led interventions.

Julie is currently working on postdoctoral study - FEAST (Feeding, Eating and Drinking in Neurological Care: Sharing Practice to Transform Care).  The FEAST study seeks to identify the unique challenges but also the opportunities mealtimes and food-based activities offer in enhancing quality of life in long-term care for younger people with neurological conditions.

Physical activity and the role of the physiotherapist in promoting/supporting people with long-term conditions is at the heart of two areas of Julie's research over the past 4 years.  Julie has led on the development and feasibility testing of a ‘shared management’ blended physiotherapy-led intervention underpinned by self-management and behaviour change principles in study ‘Lifestyle, Exercise and Activity Package for people with MS’ (LEAP-MS).  This online intervention combines remote physiotherapy coaching sessions with a bespoke, tailorable web-based physical activity platform.  Julie also led ‘Get CreActive’ a public engagement project exploring experiences of and challenges to being physically active for adults with hip dysplasia.  This physical activity focussed project brings together recent research, clinical experience and the skills of a range of artists/creative performers to draw out and represent experiences of living with hip dysplasia.

As Deputy Director of the Cardiff Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre, Julie has a particular interest in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of people with severe brain injuries and has carried out a range of studies in this area, including exploring how allied health professional interventions are perceived by families of people with a prolonged disorder of consciousness.

Julie’s doctoral research examines how the futures of people with severe brain injury are shaped during their rehabilitation.  She highlights how the futures of different types of brain injured patient are constructed, compressed and negated and examines the role of the temporal in the relationships between patient, families and health care staff – notably how patients’ futures are imagined differently by these three groups.  Julie’s PhD also identifies the role of non-qualified staff in the care of people with severe injury and how their ‘care of the present’ helps shapes the future of those with profound impairment.  She writes about this in her publication 'Caring Relations at the Margins of Neuro Care Home Life' which you can read here: DOI: http://doi.org/10.31389/jltc.49

Current projects

Health and Care Research Postdoctoral Fellowship FEAST (Feeding, Eating and Drinking in Neurological Care: Sharing Practice to Transform Care)

Recently completed projects

Get CreActive - exploring physical activity with people with hip dysplasia

Julie led on this ISSF public engagement project 2021-2022 exploring the experiences of adults with hip dysplasia starting and staying physically active.  Working with 20 adults with hip dysplasia from across the UK Julie and team used a range of creative activities to facilitate group discussions about living with and being active with hip dysplasia ahead of engagement with 4 creative artists. Drawing on key learning from group discussions and outputs achieved through working with a digital storyteller, dancer/choreographer, visual artist and comedy theatre company a peer support website ww.hipdysplasialife.org was created as the key project output.

'LEAP-MS' - Lifestyle, Exercise and Activity Package for people with Multiple Sclerosis - a three year mixed method intervention study funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Julie has led on the development and feasibility testing of a ‘shared management’ blended physiotherapy-led intervention underpinned by self-management and behaviour change principles in study ‘Lifestyle, Exercise and Activity Package for people with MS’ (LEAP-MS).  This online intervention combines remote physiotherapy coaching sessions with a bespoke, tailorable web-based physical activity platform. 

Embedding, Expanding & Evidencing the Impact of our e-learning resource - a CDoC project pilotting a MOOC about prolonged disorders of consciousness.

Following the successful development and delivery of research led curriculum for pre and post registration health care professional students, detailed in the project below, Julie, along with members of the Coma and Disorder of Consciousness Research Centre developed an online training initiative for qualified health care professionals.  The “Caring for PDoC patients” online course offered access to 8 modules, each involving between 2 to 4 hours of asycronomous learning accompanied by real-time seminars.  Two hundred and twenty two people registered for access to the 8 modules across two courses (one run in Autumn in 2019 and other in 2020).  Read an evaluation of this ESRC Impact Accelerator Award project here: https://cdoc.org.uk/publications/summaries-and-commentary/

Improving allied health professional communication and practice: using research findings about family experiences of vegetative & minimally conscious states to create change.

Building on research exploring the experiences of allied health professionals and families with relatives in a prolonged disorder of consciousness, Julie developed curricula materials for pre-registration allied health students and a multimedia resource for health professionals, students and families.  The teaching materials and resource explore the clinical, social, legal and ethical issues in the care of people in prolonged disorders of consciousness.  (ESRC Impact Accelerator Award)

Christian perspectives on death and dying

Julie was the co-ordinator of this ecumenical initiative supporting Christians to engage with contemporary debates on death and dying.  Her main roles within this project included the organisation of six conference events in England in Wales, the curation of complimentary collaborative art-research exhibitions and the production of a connected toolkit.  The toolkit is a multimedia resource containing educational materials and support for Christians to hold discussions/events around the key issues explored through the project – providing/withholding treatment, advance decisions and assisted dying. (Paristamen CIO)

The resource is free - go to www.christiandying.org.uk

Funding successes

2023 - Health and Care Wales - Centre for Adult Social Care Research - Co-applicant - £3m

2022 - AHRC-ESRC IAA - Co-applicant - Developing and piloting immersive simulation in PDoC health care education: translating research findings into innovative interventions for pre and post registration training - £10,000

2020 – Wellcome Trust ISSF Public Engagement Co-production Award – Principle Investigator - Get Cre-Active – using the creative arts to explore challenges to physical activity for people with hip dysplasia - £14,825

2019 - HCRW - PI - Feeding, Eating and Drinking in Neurological Care: Sharing Practice to Transform Care - £314,250

2019 – ESRC Impact accelerator grant – co-applicant - Embedding, Expanding & Evidencing the Impact of our e-learning resource - £25,000

2017 - ESRC Impact accelerator grant – co-applicant – Supporting and accelerating change through an online ‘best interests’ training resource and toolkit - £22,000

2016 – The Paristamen CIO – co-applicant – Christian Perspectives on death and dying - £20,000

2015 – ESRC Impact accelerator grant – co-applicant – Improving allied health professional communication and practice: using research findings about family experiences of vegetative & minimally conscious states to create change – £25,000

Research Interests

• Neurological rehabilitation and long-term care
• Health professional/family relations in the care of people with neurological conditions, in-particularly, those in a Prolonged Disorder of consciousness
• Futures in health care, and the role of ‘time’ in the experience of illness and health care relations
• Arts and health
• Ethnography 
• Participatory and creative methodologies to support the involvement of people with neurological conditions in research
• Hip dysplasia

Selected conference papers

• Latchem-Hastings, J. (2022). A web-based life-style, exercise and activity intervention for people with progressive multiple sclerosis: Results of a single-arm feasibility study. Association of Chartered Physiotherapists Interested in Neurology International Conference, London
• Latchem-Hastings, J and Latchem-Hastings, G (2021 Jan 7-8) Taking a virtual ‘Team Based Learning’ approach to interprofessional PDoC education. International Network for Health Workforce Education, 3rd European Conference of Health Workforce Education & Research, Dublin
• Latchem-Hastings, J. (2020 29 January) Poster boys and the rehabilitative dream: Using a temporal lens to explore severe brain injury rehabilitation. 6th Annual Qualitative Research Symposium, University of Bath
• Latchem-Hastings, J. Bates, J., Button, K Busse, M. et al. (2019 4-5 July) Coproduction of a Life-style, Exercise and Activity Package for People with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. MS Frontiers, University of Bath
• Latchem-Hastings, J and Latchem-Hastings G. (2018) Managing prolonged disorders of consciousness in critical care. Advanced update in critical care Welsh Intensive Care Society, Swansea [Invited speaker]
• Latchem, J. (2017 4-5 April) Allied Health professionals experiences of treatment withdrawal.  International perspectives on end of life decision making. Cardiff-York Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre. Green Templeton College, Oxford, UK. [Invited international symposium contributor]
• Latchem, J. Kitzinger, J. Kell, C and Boniface G. (2016 11-12 November) Developing a multimedia learning resource for Allied Health Professionals: exploring challenges of prolonged disorders of consciousness. European Physiotherapy Congress (ER-WCPT) Liverpool, UK.
• Latchem, J. (2016 14 September) Brain Injured futures: the triad of patient, family and health care professional relations. Future Matters Collective International Crwdd, Cardiff University, UK
• Latchem, J.  (2015) Caring relations at the margins of neurological care home life: The rehabilitative work of ‘hotel service’ staff. BSA MedSoc Annual Conference, York, UK.
• Latchem, J. (2015) Caring relations at the margins of neurological care home life: The rehabilitative work of ‘hotel service’ staff. Seeing is believing: the unseen and unknown of brain injuries. York University, UK [Invited speaker].
• Latchem, J. (2014 9 May) Allied Health professionals experiences of treatment withdrawal.  Withholding and withdrawing treatment from patients in a vegetative or minimally conscious state.  Joint COPPA and CDoC conference, York University, UK [Invited speaker]
• Latchem, J. (2013 11-12 October) Lay perceptions of physiotherapy in neurological rehabilitation and long-term care.  Physiotherapy UK, Birmingham, UK. [Invited speaker].
• Latchem, J. (2013 16 May) Shared Reading and Dementia: Research and Practice.  The Reader Organisation Conference, London, UK. [Invited panellist].

Teaching

Current teaching

Julie teaches across undergraduate, pre-registration and postgraduate physiotherapy programmes in the School of Healthcare Sciences. Her teaching focusses on her specialist area - Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness.

Curricula development and delivery

Following her own independent research and research of the Coma and Disorders of Consciousness research centre along with core CDoC members, Julie developed an online multimedia teaching resource to support delivery of complex-decision making based teaching.  Known as the 'PDoC course' students across levels at Cardiff University and Qualified health care professionals across the UK learn about the care and rehabilitation of people with the most severe brain injuries including the complex social, legal and ethical dimensions surrounding this patient group.

Biography

Dr Julie Latchem-Hastings is a neurological physiotherapist by background.  She held multiple clinical and managerial roles in the NHS and Independent sector, managing multidisciplinary teams in neurological rehabilitation, long term care and general and old age medicine.

Julie left clinical practice in 2012 to pursue postgraduate study.   She completed an MSc in Social Research Methods at Cardiff University and secured ESRC +3 funding to undertake her PhD.  Using a temporal lens, Julie’s doctoral research examined how the futures of people with severe brain injury are shaped during their rehabilitation.

Julie's long held interest in the care and rehabilitation of people with neurlogical conditions underpins much of her work.  You can learn more about Julie in an interview in Physiotherapy Frontline:

http://www.csp.org.uk/frontline/article/3-minutes-julie-latchem-hastings-following-golden-thread

Professional memberships

Critical Physiotherapy Network (2015-)

British Sociological Association (2014-)

Future Matters Collective, Cardiff University (2013-)

Cardiff-York Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre (2012-)

Association of Chartered Physiotherapists Interested in Neurology (2007-)

Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (2005-)

Committees and reviewing

• Journal reviewer, Sociology of Health and Illness
• Journal reviewer, BMJOnline
• Chair of Wales Research Ethiocs Committee 4

Supervisions

Julie supervises MSc and PhD students researching:

• Health related topics primarily using qualitative methods
• Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness
• Neurological Care and Rehabilitation
• Hip dysplasia
• E-learning for Nursing and Allied Health Care Professionals
• Online or Blended Therapy Interventions

Current supervision

Shaima Aljahdali

Research student