20-26 May 2019

This Dementia Action Week we’re asking health and care professionals to talk to their patients about research opportunities.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that all people with dementia should be given the chance to take part in research, so that they can:

  1. Feel more in control about their care.
  2. Make informed choices about getting involved.
  3. Learn more about the condition.

Join Dementia Research is the ideal way to do this.

NHS England’s Dementia: Good Care Planning Guidance suggests explaining the benefits of research to patients, and the government’s challenge on Dementia is committed to making sure that by 2020, all healthcare professionals will know how to refer their patients to Join Dementia Research.

Empower your patients

Research provides the key to finding better ways to prevent, diagnose, care for and treat dementia, and to one day beat it.

Many people really like having the opportunity to take part in research, whether to help future generations, access new treatments, “fight back” against the disease, or simply feel part of something valuable.

Graphic detailing the different types of dementia research study.

Join Dementia Research is an innovative nationwide service that makes it easier than ever for people in the UK to get involved. Volunteers register their details and researchers upload information about their study, and the system uses this data to match volunteers with studies. Researchers can then contact interested volunteers about opportunities to take part.

Over the past four years, more than 40,000 volunteers with and without dementia have expressed their interest by signing up to Join Dementia Research, and we’ve placed over 12,000 participants in trials.

This is a great start, but in order to make more progress we need more people affected by dementia to know about the opportunity to get involved.

How can you help?

Graphic of a person using the Join Dementia Research learn tool

We know that as health and care professionals you are at the heart of your community, seeing patients everyday. This means you have an ideal opportunity to let people know about the opportunity to take part in research.

To help you do this, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has developed a simple online learning tool, which provides health and care professionals with the knowledge to spread the word about Join Dementia Research.

The process is simple:

  1. Watch a short film.
  2. Answer a few questions about what you’ve just seen.
  3. Find out ways you could help.
  4. Tell us a little about yourself.
  5. Receive your certificate.

It only takes 10 minutes, so why not complete the LEARN tool today?

What next?

  • Tell all your patients and carers how they can register with Join Dementia Research.
  • Order free promotional materials to display and hand out to anyone who is interested.
  • Display our slides and videos on waiting room screens.
  • Spread the word to your colleagues.