PoINT, a new HSRU trial methodology project, aims to find out what are the most important numerical aspects of trials that patients or the public can and want to contribute to. We are also looking to identify current practices, barriers and facilitators to involving patients in numerical aspects of trials.
Beatriz Goulao, Unit’s statistician and PhD student, has been awarded the ISSF fellowship development fund by the Wellcome Trust, through the University of Aberdeen, to conduct research on trial methodology and patient and public involvement in trials.
Beatriz will be working on methods to elicit patients and the public’s opinions on numerical aspects of trials to achieve better and more meaningful patient and public involvement. Beatriz will be searching the literature to find relevant studies on the topic and speaking to patients, the public and other relevant stakeholders to understand their trial experiences and how numerical aspects play a role in those experiences. She will use this information when meeting with experts and discuss the most important research questions on the field. The project starts this month and it will last for a year. The project mentors are Marion Campbell, Katie Gillies and Craig Ramsay. Also working on the project is Camille Poisson, a Global Health and Management MSc student, conducting a survey about current practices in UK-based clinical trials.
The Health Services Research Unit is committed to improve patient and public involvement in trials. PoINT fits in this strategy and aims to promote a more comprehensive approach to involvement in trials. Beatriz is excited to start working on the project and hopes it will help achieve better communication between researchers and patients, specifically when it comes to the numerical aspects of trials.
To find out more about it, contact Beatriz or see the project’s webpage . To answer Camille’s survey until the end of June 2019, please go here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/publicinvolvementinnumericalaspetsoftrials.