Get involved

Why?

Doctors already know a lot about giving medicines to children, but they have to find out about new and better treatments. Also, they need to be certain that what they are doing now is best for their patients. They need to work with manufacturers of medicines, and they need to work with children and their families. Together, everyone will make sure medicines and other treatments are tested properly. That’s where you come in – nobody can do the research without your help.

Who?

You might already be a patient, living with a medical condition, wanting to try out better treatments. You might be a brother, a sister or a friend of someone who is sick or disabled. We are always looking for young people, parents and other carers to get involved.

How?

There are many ways in which you can get involved, including activities that should fit in with your interests and the time you have available. Some examples are:

• Deciding what research is most important and relevant to you.
• Discussing the effects on your lives of different ways of running studies.
• Commenting on information (including this website) that is produced for children and their families.
• Thinking about how researchers can ask the right questions in the right ways.
• Sharing your experiences of taking part in research, as a patient or carer.
• Interpreting the results of research, in meaningful ways.

Risks and benefits

Whatever we do, even if it’s just getting out of bed in the morning, there are always risks. There are risks in taking medicines, and there are risks in not taking medicines. If you or your children take part in medical research, the researchers will explain all the known risks. The reason for doing research is to find benefits – to reduce risks and improve treatments. If you help with research, you might find that your lives get better, but there is no guarantee. You might find that, after putting a lot of effort into a study, life is no different. Whatever happens, the doctors will share what they learn with other doctors, and that is a benefit of you getting involved.

Get in touch and get involved

If you think you might like to help, or you would just like to know more, please contact us. If you live outside of the Trent Region, we can put you in touch with the Consumer Liaison Officer at the MCRN Coordinating Centre. We will be very pleased to hear from you.