Category: Uncategorized

Researchers and community members working together to shape research on respiratory infections in young children

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Ealing Community Involvement in Research Event 2024 About the event The Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC), in collaboration with Saira —member of the Ealing Parent Carer Forum and Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Community Partner—organised this event, where the local community was invited to get involved in research, with a particular focus on involving Ealing Parent Carers, who are parents and carers of disabled children and young people, up to the age of 25, who live in Ealing. When did this event take place? The event took place on Thursday, October 10th, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the West Acton Community Centre.

HOPE for Hand Osteoarthritis

In conversation with Lidia Nigrelli, Research Assistant, Osteoarthritis Research Group working within the Centre for Inflammatory Disease

Lidia Nigrelli

What is your research project about and what stage are you at?

Hand osteoarthritis is a condition which can cause painful, swollen and stiff joints in the hands, it can affect the finger joints and thumb joints. Having hand osteoarthritis can make it harder for individuals to carry out everyday tasks. Hand osteoarthritis affects around 2 million people in the UK but there are currently no drugs that slow the progression of the disease or that target pain. Women are at a higher risk for developing hand osteoarthritis than men, and previous work has shown that factors like the menopause may play a role in how hand osteoarthritis develops in women.

Public engagement and involvement at the Cardiomyopathy UK conference: When researchers and the public meet

By Kirsten Bell, Senior Research Fellow in Anthropology, Imperial Patient Experience Research Centre

Imagine you have a heart condition—dilated cardiomyopathy (i.e., an enlarged heart)—that can be kept in remission with various medications. The only catch is that you’ll have to be on those medications for the rest of your life. Or do you? The ‘Therapy withdrawal in REcovered Dilated cardiomyopathy – Heart Failure’ (TRED-HF2) trial aims to explore whether it’s possible to reduce the number of medications patients with dilated cardiomyopathy take, while continuing to maintain remission.

A core impetus for the study, like the TRED-HF study before it, is the concerns patients often express about their medications, and the impact of their pill regimen on their quality of life.

“How patients at different stages of the steroid weaning process helped to shape and design my research”

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

In conversation with: Dr Katharine Lazarus, Diabetes and Endocrine Registrar and Clinical Research Fellow, working within the Section of Endocrinology and Investigative Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London

What is your research project about and what stage are you at?

Steroid tablets, such as prednisolone are widely used to treat conditions such as asthma and arthritis. One in six people take steroids at any one time and one in 50 adults (approximately 1 million in the UK) take steroids for a prolonged period. 

Involving parents and carers in research about children’s healthcare experiences during covid-19

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

In conversation with: Dr Kimberley Foley , a Postdoctoral Research Associate working within the Child Health Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health. Imperial College London

What did you do?

We invited parents and carers to a 2-hour online forum to share their experiences of accessing healthcare services for their children during the Covid-19 lockdown. Our research uses anonymised patient data collected from GP practices from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink in the UK. Our work is specifically looking at the number of times children and young people contacted their GP (in March to June 2020) compared to previous years.

Why has nobody asked us?! Our journey so far to co-produce research.

This entry is part [part not set] of 0 in the series Case studies

In conversation with Dr Helen Skirrow, National Institute Health Research Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow, Child Health Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London. and Lena Choudary-Salter, Founder and CEO of The Mosaic Community Trust

What is “Why has nobody asked us?” about?

“Why has nobody asked us?” aims to explore families’ experiences and perspectives of childhood vaccinations and is a co-production research project between Dr Helen Skirrow and The Mosaic Community Trust. In the UK, children living in poorer areas of big cities like London who belong to ethnic minorities or who do not speak English at home are less likely to be vaccinated however in previous research the voices of these families have often been missing.