Join our focus group to help develop a new research project!

About the research

The use of anonymous health records for mental health research has the potential to lead to great breakthroughs to improve the lives of patients.

A key step in making this data available for research is the ‘de-identification’ of information in health records, to make the data anonymous and protect the privacy of patients.

We are a team of researchers at Oxford University developing a study to assess how well the de-identification of electronic health records is done currently.

This research will, ultimately, help ensure the protection of the privacy for patients in Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Join our focus group

We would like to hold a focus group with Oxford Health service users to share more details about our proposed research, and to hear your feedback.

The focus group will help make sure the project delivers maximum benefit to patients and addresses the concerns of service users in the delivery of the research.

The focus group will be held in Oxford, in November, and will last up to 2.5 hours. Participant expenses will be refunded, and a payment will be offered for time of £30.

If you are an Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust patient, carer or service user, have an interest in mental health research, and would like to discuss how clinical data can contribute to mental health research, please get in touch!

Niall.Taylor@psych.ox.ac.uk

• Are you interested in dementia research?
• Do you have experience of caring for or supporting someone with dementia?
• Do you want to share your views and experience to develop a research project?

About the research

Dementia is a complex disease. There is currently no cure, only treatments that temporarily reduce symptoms.

In spite of this, there are many examples of existing drug treatments shown to decrease dementia risk. These drugs are already being used to treat other diseases. What if we could use combinations of these drugs to treat the multiple factors that contribute to dementia?

Our research will explore how combinations of drug treatments for other diseases can potentially be used for the prevention of dementia.

About the focus group

We are looking for between 4-6 people from the Oxfordshire area to join a focus group to discuss our proposed research project and help make sure it reflects the priorities of patients and their families and carers.

We are looking for potential group members that:

• Have experience of or an interest in dementia research
• Have experience of caring for or supporting someone with dementia
• Would be happy to share their views in a group discussion about our research project

The focus group will last up to 2.5 hours. It will take place in November, at the Warneford Hospital site in Oxford. The date and time will be arranged in consultation with potential participants.

We will refund travel expenses and offer a payment of £30 for all focus group participants.

How to express an interest in joining the focus group

If you would be interested in being part of the focus group please send an email by the 1 October 2019, briefly outlining how you meet the criteria for the group, and why this project interests you, to: Danielle.Newby@psych.ox.ac.uk