‘Join Dementia Research’ – getting the public involved

'Join Dementia Research' supports researchers of all types from across the UK, for free, to find suitable volunteers to take part in their studies. 

It was created by Professor Martin Rossor (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) in response to the government’s Dementia 2020 strategy, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and developed in association with Alzheimer’s Research UK and Alzheimer’s Society. 

To date, the service has attracted more than 42,000 volunteers, supported 297 studies and has had over 19,000 study enrolments. It has become a key part of the dementia research infrastructure across the UK.

The project established that public-facing volunteer registers can effectively recruit to clinical research studies of all kinds. Along with the service itself, the NIHR National Director for Dementia Research office, led by Martin at UCL, has established tools to support NHS clinical services to promote dementia research to their patients, training materials for staff and a community of champions who help researchers and patients to improve engagement.

As a result of this initiative, people with dementia and their carers now have a simple, engaging and effective way to participate in research studies. Most importantly, the service facilitates dementia research by removing barriers to involvement. Researchers from all across the UK are better able to recruit and find volunteers to participate in their research and clinical trials, at no cost.

Meet the minds behind this discovery at the It's All Academic Festival on 5 October.

Links

• Professor Martin Rossor’s academic profile
• ‘Join Dementia Research’ project launch
• ‘Join Dementia Research’ website 

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Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash