Category: Uncategorized

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

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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

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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.

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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.

Involving Year One students to help shape research into physical activity and child health

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

What is your research about and what did you do?

Our research is the iMprOVE cohort study which is investigating children’s physical activity and mental health in primary schools that do and do not implement physical activity interventions. Regular physical activity is known to have many health benefits but only half of children in England meet the recommended guidelines of 60 minutes of physical activity per day.

Involving teenagers in research about the environment and mental health

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In conversation with: Rhiannon Thompson, PhD student working within the Imperial College Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the SCAMP study

What did you do? 

As part of my PhD project, I wanted to find out more about how adolescents are affected by their physical environments (their thoughts and feelings about urban and rural places, buildings and traffic, greenspace, nature, noise, etc). To begin with, I recruited 12 teenagers for a project design workshop where we brainstormed ideas for how this question could be answered.

Designing follow-up care for stroke with those who know it best

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In conversation with: Jennifer Crow, Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist in Stroke who is undertaking a NIHR Pre-doctoral Clinical Academic Fellowship programme working within: Therapies/Stroke at Charing Cross Hospital, London

Jenny’s pre-doctoral fellowship is a partnership fellowship funded by the Stroke Association and the National Institute for Health Research.

What did you do? 

I ran my first virtual Patient Public Involvement Group via zoom with 6 attendees. I had previously been involved in public engagement activities in the form of patient stories and feedback but I had not attempted public involvement.

Are the statistics from Covid-19 vaccine trials understood?

Dr Suzie Cro, Research Fellow at the Imperial Clinical Trials Unit and the HEALTHY STATS public involvement group share insights from their recent online discussion of COVID-19 vaccines:

Right now, in the UK and across the world, vaccines for Covid-19 are being rolled out. You may have already received, or be expecting a vaccination offer sometime soon. Vaccines are thought to be our main hope to control the Covid-19 pandemic. Their use has only been possible following robust and rigorous clinical trials, which have demonstrated that they meet high safety and effectiveness standards set by the UK medicines regulator (the MHRA).