McLeod urges people to SHARE if you care

Dr Aileen McLeod is encouraging people across Dumfries & Galloway to register their interest in health research as a new campaign is launched to boost awareness of the Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE), a confidential register run by NHSScotland for people who are interested in participating in health research.

 

By joining the register, which only takes a few minutes, participants agree to be invited to take part in future health research studies – at which stage it is completely up to them whether they choose to participate.

 

More people are taking part in health research studies across Scotland with 2012/13 seeing an increase of 10 per cent from the previous year. The national advertising campaign aims to build on this to recruit up to one million people to SHARE.

 

Dr McLeod, who has joined the Register, said:

 

“Our NHS is made better by research as it informs how we improve services and treatments and encourages a culture of using practice based on evidence. Research studies also give Scottish patients access to innovative medical advances and new treatments available in clinical trials.

 

“However research can only deliver these benefits if people are willing to take part in the studies.

 

“That is why SHARE is so important as it makes it easier for people to get involved with research and identifies suitable people for each study so that researchers can recruit the right people. I have signed up to SHARE and I’d like to encourage other people to do the same by visiting www.registerforshare.org.

 

“I hope that more Scots will get behind it and help us to build on Scotland’s strong tradition of health research which has led to many medical breakthroughs for patients world-wide.”

Notes to Editors:

 

Examples of the innovation which has come out of Scottish research include:

 

  • Creation of the UK‘s leading home-based cardiac rehabilitation programme which aids the recovery of more than 16,000 heart attack patients every year
  • Confirmation of the long term benefits of taking statins –a landmark study showed that those who took statins were less at risk of a non-fatal heart attack or death from coronary heart disease
  • A clinical trial to encourage dentists to apply fissure sealant to children’s teeth increased the use of this effective but underused prevention treatment and is now incorporated in the Dental contract.
  • To complete the quick and straightforward registration process or to find out more about the register visit www.registerforshare.org.
  • The Scottish Government funds and supports research through its Chief Scientist Office (CSO).
  • CSO supports and promotes high quality research aimed at improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of services offered by NHSScotland and securing lasting improvements to the health of the people of Scotland.
  • In 2013-4 Scottish Government is investing £68 million in health research through CSO.
  • SHARE is funded by CSO as part of a wider infrastructure investment called NHS Research Scotland (NRS), a partnership with Scottish NHS Boards.
  • The overarching aim of NRS is to ensure that NHSScotland provides the best environment to support clinical research. More generally, NRS contributes towards a thriving life sciences sector in Scotland, which is in turn critical to the ability of the NHS to deliver world-class health outcomes.

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