The Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast Presents Pioneering Progress at the Annual Internship Showcase

Pictured above is poster prize winner Dawn Lamb of North Cumbria Integrated Care and IMPlementation and Capacity building Team (IMPaCT) Theme Lead Professor Dame Caroline Watkins.
The 2025 ARC NWC Internship Showcase took place on Thursday, 23rd January, at Scholars Restaurant, Foster Building, University of Central Lancashire. The event offered a platform for ARC NWC interns to present their research projects and engage with a diverse audience of healthcare professionals, academics, and researchers.
The showcase featured a series presentations for our latest cohort of interns, each followed by a questions and answer session, allowing attendees to gain insights into a wide range of health and care-related research initiatives.
The event opened with welcome remarks from Dr Scott Lamont, Senior Research Fellow, Implementation and Capacity Building Team, began, “The ARC NWC Internship Showcase offers a glimpse into the real-world impact of research when fresh perspectives are combined with academic and professional support. Our interns tackle complex front-line health, social care, local authority, and voluntary sector challenges head-on, and their work has the potential to influence policy and practice, while involving the public and patients to make meaningful changes. It really is inspiring to see such co-productive dedication in action.”
Presentations and Research Topics
• Dawn Lamb – North Cumbria Integrated Care Exploring the Determinants of Constraint Induced Movement Therapy Implementation for Stroke Patients in a Rural and Coastal NHS Trust.
• Paula Somner – Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust What factors influence change in the provision of personalised activities for people living with dementia (PLWD) and the active involvement of caregivers?
• Katie Fisher – Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Rooting for Radiotherapy: Investigating the benefits of green social prescribing and nature-based activities for radiotherapy patients.
• Claire Ingleby – Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Using Blended Diet (BD) via Gastrostomy in Paediatrics: A Systematic Review of the Benefits and Complications. The Implementation of Service Change.
• Katie Merry – Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen Understanding the low uptake of cervical screening amongst young South Asian women between the ages 25-29 in Blackburn with Darwen.
• Shaun Morgan – East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust Drug Error Reduction Software use in Adult Critical Care.
• Kate Lynch – Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Is the presence of varus thrust at the knee a useful indicator of responders and non-responders to offloading knee bracing in individuals with knee osteoarthritis?
• Chris McAteer – Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust Bridging the Gap – Integrating Peer Support Workers in Early Intervention Psychosis Services: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective.
• Sarah Lloyd – Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust A Service Evaluation Investigating the Factors that Influence Long Term Engagement with Splints and Orthotics After Stroke.
• Isabelle Cadwallader and Amanda Thompson – Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Sefton Council How do families and professionals experience Team Around the School (TAS) in Sefton?
• Lisa McVey – Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Virtual Reality headset training in a clinical setting, Research institute Liverpool University Hospitals SWAN Team.
• Catherine Witter – Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust What are the experiences and perceptions of neonatal adaptation syndrome (NAS) and its monitoring by clinicians, according to women and birthing people who took an SSRI/SNRI antidepressant while pregnant?
• Laura Shuter – Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust What are the CYP, parents and staff perception of acceptability of delivering mouth care and prevention interventions in the Emergency Department at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital?
• Matt Kenyon (Pre-recorded) – East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust Co-Design TendAdhere: A theory and evidence-based guide for Physiotherapists to help people with Achilles tendinopathy adhere to NHS Exercise Treatment.
• Sarah Bosomworth – North Yorkshire Council Implementing a training toolkit for technology enabled Reablement.
This year’s poster prize was awarded to Dawn Lamb of North Cumbria Integrated Care who is Exploring the Determinants of Constraint Induced Movement Therapy Implementation for Stroke Patients in a Rural and Coastal NHS Trust. whose work on impressed judges and fellow cohort with its clarity, innovation, and potential impact. Reflecting on the achievement, Dr Kathryn Berzins, Reader with the ARC NWC IMPaCT team, commented, ‘The winning poster stood out for its thoughtful approach and clear presentation of complex research findings. It’s fantastic to see such high-quality work emerging from our interns, demonstrating their dedication to advancing health and care research.’
ARC NWC offers five internship types, providing opportunities for individuals at various stages of their careers to engage in research and contribute to improving health and care services. If you are interested in learning more about future internship opportunities, please visit the ARC NWC website to explore how you can get involved.