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Research for the Future - public invited to sign up to Help BEAT Coronavirus

RFTF   covid article

A new NHS campaign, ‘Help BEAT Coronavirus’ has launched in the North West Coast encouraging people to take part in research to help the NHS in the fight against COVID-19.

The campaign has been developed following the incredible public response to vaccine research trials, where more than 30,000 people across the region have taken part in a range of nationally- prioritised COVID-19 studies supported by NIHR Clinical Research Network North West Coast.

‘Help BEAT Coronavirus’ is part of Research for the Future, an NIHR North West Coast initiative that helps people find out about and take part in health and care research. It joins their range of other successful ‘Help BEAT’ campaigns supporting research in a number of priority areas. 

Professor Andy Ustianowski, National Clinical Lead for the UK NIHR COVID Vaccine research Programme and joint National Specialty Lead for Infection at NIHR Clinical Research Network says:

“The success of the COVID 19 Vaccine in the UK is down to research and every person who volunteers. We now have treatments, as a result of trials, for COVID that are saving lives. Clinical Research is vital to fight this pandemic.  Everything that we do in medicine should be based on evidence and we get this evidence from clinical trials. By signing up you are helping to discover new ways to prevent, diagnose and manage COVID-19.” 

Research helps to increase our understanding of how coronavirus is transmitted, how to treat people who become infected and discover how best to help and support people living with Long Covid.

Research for the Future’s unique consent-for-approach database has been updated to collect information about people’s COVID status, recovery, and whether they have received a coronavirus vaccine.

To date, over 3,000 people have opted into this cohort, two-thirds of which have previously tested positive with more than a quarter of those stating they hadn’t fully recovered within 12 weeks. As a CRN the North West Coast initiative, Research for the Future is perfectly situated to help support your research into: the after-effects of the pandemic better treatment options services to support people living with long COVID why some groups of people are at greater risk of coronavirus infection or developing symptoms of long COVID.

Taking part in research means people are contributing to the NHS response to the global pandemic by helping the NHS to find new vaccines and treatments for coronavirus (COVID-19).

After registering with the service, people will receive detailed information about research taking place in their area, along with details of how to take part.  As well as taking part in vaccine and drug trials, there are plenty of other ways people can get involved in research, for example taking part in discussion groups to share their experiences of lockdown or completing surveys about healthcare during the pandemic.

The easiest way to register your interest is online, by visiting the Research for the Future website at www.researchforthfuture.org.

For more information about support available to researchers, please see the Research for the Future website or contact Katherine Grady (Programme Development Manager), katherine.grady@nca.nhs.uk