Sobell House nurse wins Open University award for research

An Oxford University Hospitals nurse who is researching the needs of carers of people nearing the end of life has been named The Open University Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) Postgraduate Student of the year for 2024.

Sam Gould, who works as a Living Well Coordinator at Sobell House Hospice, received the annual award in recognition of her research excellence and contribution to research culture both at The Open University (OU) and Sobell House. 

Her PhD research is investigating what impacts on the resilience of unpaid carers receiving support from the Home Hospice service, which is part of the RIPEL project, an initiative involving a number of health and care partners aimed at delivering more personalised care for people at the end of their life.

Prof Erica Borgstrom of the WELS faculty said: "Sam was nominated due to her outstanding contributions to the research environment at the OU and OUH, including the hospice, her contribution to her field of research, and in recognition that she's active with research dissemination across a range of conferences, platforms, and peer-reviewed publications."

The aim of Sam's PhD is to explore the support needs of unpaid carers who are caring for someone nearing the end of their life at home. 

Sam explains: "This topic is important for palliative care services to consider, as unpaid carers are relied upon by health and social care services to support people who wish to die at home. By relying on unpaid carer support, services are asking unpaid carers to continue to care for their friend or relative whilst navigating their own grief and loss.

"I want to explore the lived experience of unpaid carers receiving support from the Home Hospice Service in Oxfordshire.

"Understanding what they feel impacts their resilience is essential if services are to adequately support unpaid carers." 

Professor Helen Walthall, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research at OUH, said: "We are delighted that Sam has received this recognition for her hard work. This is another example of how nurses, midwives and allied health professionals who are working directly on the frontline with patients can ask the important questions that ultimately lead to us delivering a better service and more compassionate care for our patients and their loved ones.

"We look forward to seeing the findings of Sam's PhD and learning how they might feed into the palliative care service we deliver."