Promoting research to patients: Susan and Claire on their top tips

Fewer than half of people diagnosed with dementia in England have a documented discussion about taking part in research. This is why early discussions around signing up to dementia research is important.

We spoke with Susan Bradbury, a Clinical Research Practitioner and Dr Claire Pavlou, a Neuropsychologist to discuss how they speak to their patients about dementia research.

“Supporting involvement in dementia research is vital to offering hope for future generations.”

Susan Bradbury, Team Leader and Clinical Research Practitioner at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT), leads on finding and delivering research studies in and around Stafford. She makes sure they run on time and meet their targets. The team has used Join Dementia Research for over a decade.

She explains: “We feel supporting involvement in dementia research is vital to improving care, advancing new treatments, and offering hope for future generations affected by the condition.”

For Susan, she actively promotes Join Dementia Research to their patients when speaking about research.

She continues: “Join Dementia Research is a fantastic and trusted resource for both patients and healthcare professionals looking to be involved in local and national dementia research.

“The Join Dementia Research service is incredibly easy to use, allowing patients, families, carers and the general public to quickly register and be matched with suitable studies, making participation accessible and straightforward.

“We would strongly encourage all healthcare professionals to speak with their patients about Join Dementia Research”

Conversations like these help Susan and her team open opportunities for patients to contribute to necessary research and help shape the future of dementia care.

"It is vitally important to get people involved in dementia research"

Claire Pavlou is a Principal Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist with the South Warwickshire Memory Assessment and Community Dementia team. She works with people of all ages who have dementia. For Claire, the only way we can keep progressing evidence to take on dementia is by supporting more people to take part in research.

Claire explains: “It’s vitally important to get people involved in dementia research because otherwise and without it we cannot progress medical science.”

Claire and her team try to discuss taking part in research throughout the entire memory assessment process, mentioning services like Join Dementia Research when appropriate. She believes that participation can give patients a sense of purpose.

She continues: “People often feel very proud to be taking part in research and giving them hope that there’s progress in the medical research field, and that there’s developments taking place. People often say they want to be able to give something back.

“Some staff feel quite anxious about mentioning research [. . .] But actually more often than not, I think once you, as a clinician, get over that worry and feel comfortable talking about research and promoting it in a positive way, then it comes across to patients as positive and they’re more eager to take part.”

Claire makes sure she explains to patients that they can opt out at any time of the process through Join Dementia Research. She also explains to patients that they may be eligible to take part in different types of research, including online questionnaires, surveys and drug trials.

She says: “I promote it by saying that people are entitled to take part in research once they get their dementia diagnosis […] we wouldn’t want people to miss out on the opportunity if it’s something that they feel strongly about.”

Over 900,000 people are currently living with dementia in the UK. Speaking to patients about taking part in research, like Susan and Claire, through Join Dementia Research helps to improve treatments for people living with dementia.

Help improve future treatments and care for people with dementia. Talk to your patients about signing up to Join Dementia Research and how easy it is to get involved in research.