Every year we ask our Join Dementia Research volunteers to tell us about their experiences of the service via a questionnaire. This helps us to understand what we are doing well and identify areas for improvement.

Engagement

Despite the challenges of 2020 it was fantastic to see that many of our volunteers are still engaged with dementia research and that 86.5% had a ‘good or ok’ experience of Join Dementia Research while 70% would recommend the service to a friend. 

Of those that responded, 65% have been matched to a research study using the service which is an increase of 5% since 2019 and it was also fantastic to hear 62% of participants advising that the service has made it easier to take part in research which is consistent with the previous years results.

The cornerstone of the service is the bringing together of researchers and volunteers and the survey advised that around half of those who answered ‘yes’ to the matching to studies question had been contacted by a researcher. This is similar to previous years.

70% of the respondents confirmed that Join Dementia Research has increased their awareness of what research is taking place. This is an increase of 5% since 2019 and is perhaps a reflection of the heightened interest in health research as a result of the pandemic.

What you said

The comments box provided some interesting insights and there were a number of suggestions for improvements to the service. Such improvements are a priority for our team and over the next few months we will be working on some design changes and improved navigation of our homepage, which we are confident will enhance user experience. We will then be continuing to work on improving the service ongoing throughout the year and beyond. 

Communication channels

We heard again this year about just how much the friendly staff on our charity helplines are appreciated.

In terms of keeping the community informed, the news items, volunteer case studies and newsletters are well received and the study alert emails are also helpful. 

The survey also gave us insights into our social media following and volunteers are still mainly engaging with us on Facebook where we currently have a community of  5000. On Twitter we have just over 9,500 followers made up of volunteers as well as those from the healthcare and research community.

Thank you

Volunteer feedback is so important as it helps us to find ways to improve our service, so we can maintain your interest in vital dementia research and ensure that you have an enjoyable experience along the way! 

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