AWP celebrate #whywedoresearch during Clinical Trials Week

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) Research and Development (R&D) team are celebrating mental health research during their Clinical Trials Week from 6 to 10 June, by asking people to say why they’re involved in research. The social media campaign will see researchers, research participants, clinicians and others tweet a hand-written message using #whywedoresearch from @AWP_RD.

They are inviting AWP staff, local researchers, service users, carers and members of the public to tweet about their involvement in mental health and dementia research. The campaign will run alongside events taking place for AWP staff around the trust. If you want to get involved, download the #whywedoresearch message sheet to complete yourself. Don’t forget to tweet @AWP_RD with your picture.

Clinical Trials Week project coordinator Jo Morris said:

“We want to share personal stories from the people we work with about mental health and dementia research and we’ll be tweeting using #whywedoresearch from @AWP_RD to tell people about the variety of work mental health research can cover. There are many research heroes in AWP and beyond, and this week is dedicated to hearing from them and celebrating their work.”

In the last 10 years, 225,000 people in the West of England are estimated to have taken part in clinical research supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), the research arm of the NHS. These ‘research heroes’ have helped pave the way for new, improved NHS treatments and services.

Clinical research helps the NHS identify the best interventions and treatments for patients, which have the potential to improve the lives of those affected now, and in the future. More volunteers are needed to take part in clinical research if this vital work is to continue.

Dr Steve Falk, Clinical Director of the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network West of England, said:

“Every year, research in our local hospitals, GP surgeries, care homes and in the wider community, contributes to better care in the NHS. This clinical research, supported by the NIHR, would be impossible without the thousands of local people willing to take part. They have all helped improve treatments and services. “Just in the last year alone, 19,500 people took part in 671 research studies in the West of England. That shows just how committed people are to `doing their bit’ to help improve NHS treatment.”

As well as thanking patients and the public for their invaluable contribution to clinical research, we are also asking more people to get involved.

Find out about AWP’s current research studies.

To contact the AWP R&D team, call 0117 378 4266.