The SDCRN has joined forces with organisations around the country to support “It’s OK to ask” – a new campaign led by the National Institute for Health Research to encourage patients to ask their family doctor, nurse or consultant about clinical research.
Research is part of the core work of NHS Scotland, and promoting clinical research in dementia across Scotland is the SDCRN’s aim. Clinicians are already doing a great job of making research happen within NHS as proved by the fact that annual patient recruitment figures into studies have doubled in the past five years.
However, the SDCRN and NIHR want this growth to continue, by encouraging more patient interaction and empowering patients to initiate a conversation about taking part in clinical research. Through the campaign, patients will be invited to speak to their medical advisers about whether research is right for them.
Patients can log their experience via facebook, twitter, email or phone. As supporters of the campaign, we are calling upon all clinicians to be prepared for patients taking a more proactive attitude to research, to think about how to respond to patient questions about research participation, and to consider where to signpost a patient who might be interested in exploring their research options.
You can support the campaign personally, by taking a picture of yourself with the “OK to ask” campaign badge and tweeting it to @OfficialNIHR with the hashtag #NIHRoktoask, emailing it to [email protected] or sharing it via the facebook page at www.facebook.com/NIHRoktoask. You can find the badge and other resources to help you promote the campaign at www.crncc.nihr.ac.uk/oktoask. Please help us to support the NIHR in this important campaign to empower patients in research.
The OK to Ask poster can be downloaded below.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| OK to Ask A4 poster.pdf | 1.21 MB |