Overview of ARCFEST Theme discussions
Children and working-age disabilities (Kate)
In the first meeting of the CWAD sub-theme at the ARCNWC launch in Blackpool, participants discussed the key areas of need and research they would like to see explored in the work of the sub-theme. These areas included: how to best support disabled people to access and maintain temporary accommodation and employment; how best to prepare for, and support, transition for children and young people with life-limiting conditions and palliative care needs and how this impacts of their access to social care support; the need for co-ordinated care that is person-focused; establishing communities of care for vulnerable people; and to explore the complexity of families using available data to redefine ‘complex households’ and what this means for families, particularly those on the edge of the definition, to identify areas of support and prevention. Some initial work on these priorities was identified and shared. Participants recognised the link with other themes such as Long-Term Conditions, and Palliative Care Subtheme. It was agreed that the sub-theme needs to establish a good network with other providers of social care who were not in this initial discussion and to ensure that those with lived experience are central to all discussions and plans. 

Older adults and Dementia (Clarissa)
In the older adults and dementia sub-theme, which is continuing after 6.5 years in ‘ARC1’, we discussed an emphasis on expanding on work from ARC1, and moving also into the implementation of research. Some examples and key priorities include a continued focus on wider implementation and evaluation of both our novel dementia board games, for adults and for primary school children, to reduce stigma and improve knowledge and care delivery; focusing on our funded research into work and health for paid and unpaid carers, including via our funded feasibility study of the new Social Care Schwartz Rounds for paid and unpaid carers. We also discussed the need to create links with industry partners, and we will focus on identifying suitable care technology to support older adults and those with dementia with care needs specifically in Year 1 and moving forward. We will continue with our NWC Living Lab in Ageing and Dementia, adapted from the Netherlands and out colleagues at Maastricht University, and our flagship Community of Practice which has been running since 2019 – the Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum.

End of life and palliative care (Stephen & Amy)
Participants emphasised that palliative care should be positioned as a cross-cutting subtheme, explicitly linked to the Palliative Care subtheme in Long-Term Conditions and embedded across the Public Health and Women’s Health Themes, reflecting its relevance across populations, settings, and the life course. There was strong agreement that research activity must be grounded in the core needs of people living on the Northwest Coast, with caution expressed about over-reliance on international systematic reviews whose findings and guidance may not translate meaningfully into this regional and socio-economic context. Considerable attention was given to the need to use, adapt, or develop methodological approaches that can better reach underserved communities and minoritised groups, ensuring their experiences and priorities are represented in research data rather than reproduced as absences. In this context, there was a clear suggestion to support and actively engage the CoREN (Community Research and Engagement Network) established in ARC1. The group also recognised that the first planned subtheme meeting (30th of June at 13.00) should prioritise PPIE voices, serving as a forum for people with lived experience to articulate which research questions and outcomes would be meaningful to recipients of palliative and end-of-life care. Alongside this, participants noted the ongoing paucity of inclusive and effective death literacy and communication and raised concerns that the NHS policy shift from “bricks to clicks” could further marginalise people at the end of life if digital-first approaches are not designed with equity and accessibility in mind.

Overall, the discussion reinforced the need for a regionally grounded, methodologically inclusive, and cross-theme approach to palliative care research within ARC2, with co-production and equity at its core.