Patient Experience Research Centre

Understanding the impact of digital technologies on patient safety

21 September 2022

This entry is part 2 of 11 in the series People's Research Cafe at the Great Exhibition Road Festival 2022

This blog is part of a series showcasing the People’s Research Cafe which took place on the 18th and 19th June 2022 in South Kensington, London as part of the Great Exhbition Road Festival.

What is a People’s Research Café?

The People’s Research Cafe is a café with a twist. Visitors are welcomed to sit down at a table co-hosted by an Imperial College researcher and a public contributor whose role is to help the conversation flow freely. Over a free hot drink, visitors find out about the researcher’s project and will be asked for their opinions on it.

Understanding the relationship between diet and gut health

Halle Johnson

25 August 2022

Reflections

This entry is part 1 of 11 in the series People's Research Cafe at the Great Exhibition Road Festival 2022

This blog is part of a series showcasing the People’s Research Cafe which took place on the 18th and 19th June 2022 in South Kensington, London as part of the Great Exhbition Road Festival.

What is a People’s Research Café?

The People’s Research Cafe is a café with a twist. Visitors are welcomed to sit down at a table co-hosted by an Imperial College researcher and a public contributor whose role is to help the conversation flow freely. Over a free hot drink, visitors find out about the researcher’s project and will be asked for their opinions on it.

HIV Co-Production Showcase: Sharing learnings from a participatory research project (Part 2)

Halle Johnson

5 August 2022

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series HIV Co-Production

On Wednesday 6 July 2022, 25 stakeholders met at Lift, Islington (a community venue) to reflect, create and share ideas together as a group about co-producing HIV research using the example of a recent participatory project exploring the impact of COVID-19 on people living with HIV in the UK

The showcase event was co-designed to be interactive and participatory in nature (after all, we wanted to showcase how valuable these approaches can be to research!). You can find out more about how we co-designed the day in our previous blog.

HIV Co-Production Showcase: Sharing learnings from a participatory research project (Part 1)

Halle Johnson

6 July 2022

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series HIV Co-Production

Over the last 18 months we have been working in partnership as a group of researchers and people living with HIV (two peer researchers and three advisory group members to undertake a co-produced peer research qualitative study exploring the experiences of COVID-19 among people living with HIV. This work is a collaboration between the Patient Experience Research Centre at Imperial College London and Positively UK.

As part of this participatory study, co-researchers undertook training on research ethics, the fundamental aspects of qualitative research, how to conduct and analyse interviews online and emotional wellbeing/safeguarding while undertaking research.

User-centred design in diabetes technology development

Halle Johnson

14 June 2022

In conversation with: Dr Parizad Avari, ST7 Registrar and Honorary Clinical Lecturer, working with Professor Nick Oliver in the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College, London

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

We are aiming to improve the lives of people living with Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition which requires lifelong insulin therapy. The Horizon 2020 PEPPER (Patient Empowerment through Predictive PERsonalised decision support) project is a personalised decision support system to support self-management. The PEPPER app was designed for people with type 1 diabetes to manage their condition by providing personalised advice about insulin dosage and carbohydrate intake through artificial intelligence.

Dying Matters Week: Ensuring you and your loved ones are #InAGoodPlace at the end of life

Halle Johnson

4 May 2022

This week we are highlighting an important cause – Dying Matters Awareness Week. Dying Matters is a campaign run by Hospice UK that aims to get us talking more openly about death, dying and bereavement. The focus of this year’s awareness week is on what it means to be #InAGoodPlace when we die. To be in a good place at the end life involves having your physical, emotional, financial and spiritual needs met and getting the right care and support. We can only achieve this if we get people thinking about, and talking through, their wishes for end of life care.

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

Katherine Baker

29 April 2022

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.

Can humans beat computer models at predicting the spread of COVID-19?

Halle Johnson

14 March 2022

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

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mathematical modelling has received a lot of attention from policy makers and the general public. Computer models are developed, adapted and refined by humans to do things like making projections or forecasts (i.e., an estimation of a future situation based on present trends).

Computer models are developed, adapted and refined by humans to do things like making projections (i.e., what would the future look like if current trends were to continue?) or forecasts (i.e., what will the future actually look like?). It is interesting to consider how human judgement alone compares against model-based forecasts.

Involving women to help shape a project exploring pregnancy care following weight-loss surgery

Halle Johnson

2 March 2022

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

In conversation with: Dr Saleem Ansari, Registrar in Metabolic Medicine and Chemical Pathology, working within the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, imperial College London

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

My research aims to answer the question ‘What is the preferred weight-loss operation for women with obesity who are of child-bearing age.’

There are two main weight loss-operations, the ‘gastric bypass ‘and sleeve gastrectomy’. The gastric bypass operation is associated with complications during pregnancy such as early delivery and small babies, but whether these complications occur after sleeve gastrectomy is currently unknown.

National HIV Testing Week: Give HIV the Finger!

Halle Johnson

11 February 2022

This week has marked National HIV Testing Week. This year’s campaign focusses on promoting regular testing among the most affected population groups, to reduce the number of people diagnosed late and living with undiagnosed HIV.

Why test for HIV?

People can live with HIV and display no symptoms for several years so testing is essential to know your HIV status. Being diagnosed as early as possible helps reduce transmission, allows you to start treatment early and ultimately improves health outcomes. With effective treatment, there is no risk of passing the virus on to sexual partners (Undetectable = Untransmittable).

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