Welcome. Healthtalkonline, an award-winning charity website, lets you share in other people's experiences of health and illness. This information is based on qualitative research into patient experiences led by experts at the University of Oxford.
Clinical trials
Well-designed clinical trials are a vital contribution to advancing medical knowledge, in order to improve treatment, care and quality of life for patients. It is important that trial volunteers understand what is involved and are able to make an informed choice. The new Healthtalkonline section on Experiences of Clinical Trials features interviews with 42 people from a wide range of backgrounds talking about why they took part in a trial, what information they needed, and what it was like for them. It also includes accounts from patients who decided not to take part, and those who withdrew from a trial.
Coming soon - Participating in medical studies
The Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), based at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, is working closely with Healthtalkonline and the Health Experiences Research Group to explore people's experiences of research participation and improve public engagement and awareness. The BRC has funded a fellowship (held by Louise Locock) to conduct interviews with patients taking part in several types of research, including:
- a study of a new screening programme in Oxfordshire to detect previously unrecognised heart valve disease - Oxvalve
- research aimed at preventing stroke by improving our understanding and treatment of transient ischaemic attack/minor stroke
- biobanking studies (where people give blood, tissue, saliva or other samples to be stored or 'banked' for future medical research).
These interviews will be used to create new resources on healthtalkonline, to raise awareness and provide information for patients asked to take part in such research. They will also be used to help inform staff involved in conducting research, giving them insight into what patients feel about research participation and stimulate discussion about how care and information can be improved.
If you have been involved in any of these research studies and would like to find out more about being interviewed, please contact louise.locock@dphpc.ox.ac.uk
