Raising public awareness of clinical research

The UKCRC Partners have communication strategies designed to raise awareness of their own activities, and all are keen to promote public understanding of the health research environment. The Partners have also explored areas where there may be added value in developing joint activities.
 

Developing generic information resources on clinical trials

A wide range of information resources on clinical trials are available in a number of English-speaking countries. Some give a brief introduction to clinical research whilst others provide more in-depth information for people considering taking part in a clinical trial. Most of this information is focused on specific disease areas such as cancer, mental health and HIV and is not always easily transferable for use in clinical trials in other areas of health and disease.

To address this need, the UKCRC has developed two generic information resources for patients and the public:

 

Printed copies of the leaflet and booklet can be requested from the UK Clinical Research Network at: info@ukcrn.org.uk

Developing education resources on clinical research

A number of the concepts and issues involved in research into the treatment of ill health and the development of new medicines have the potential to engage school-age children in the science, and potentially citizenship, aspects of the National Curriculum.

The UKCRC is currently working with the team at the Centre of the Cell to explore how information on clinical research could support teaching of the science curriculum. The Centre of the Cell is a national resource providing information for teachers and students about health and disease, cell biology and medical research, built around key stages 2, 3 and 4 of the National Curriculum.

The first part of this work was to provide a signpost to currently available resources on clinical research that can be used to facilitate science teaching. This information is now available on the Centre of the Cell website.

Based on an analysis of available resources, and the needs and interests of teachers and students, further work is underway to develop new classroom resources on clinical research and clinical trials that can support science teaching.