Involvement in research “It’s just rewarding to know that I will be helping my peers in the future”

-By Tommy Dunne

“Hi, it’s Tommy reporting. I’ve been asked if I’m aware of opportunities to participate in dementia research, and am I personally involved. The answer is yes. I am aware of opportunities to participate in research because I am personally involved in two studies at the present time.

The first is at Mossley Hill hospital  which involves my and my ancestral medical history, my life style, memory tests and a lot of blood samples.

The second is the MerseyCare Cygnus project, a digital brain health platform for improving dementia outcomes. The Cygnus project involved industry, NHS, academia, research charities, with patients sitting right in the middle.

So what would persuade me to take part in dementia research projects? It’s a fact that many people with dementia are poorly served by the health care system, and we all know that drug availability is very limited, and none have been shown to change the course of the most common causes of dementia, Alzheimer’s, for example. Non-drug treatments are often supported by limited evidence and are not widely available.

So why did I want to know about opportunities to take part in dementia research and what would be involved? I know that these studies will not result in any direct health benefits for myself. It’s just rewarding enough to know that I will be helping towards my peers in the future, by helping them now.

End of report.”