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Research Article: Incorporating usability evaluation into iterative development of an online platform to support research participation in Parkinson’s disease: a mixed methods protocol

Date Published: 2023-12-19

Abstract:
Introduction Many people with Parkinson’s (PwP) are not given the opportunity or do not have adequate access to participate in clinical research. To address this, we have codeveloped with users an online platform that connects PwP to clinical studies in their local area. It enables site staff to communicate with potential participants and aims to increase the participation of the Parkinson’s community in research. This protocol outlines the mixed methods study protocol for the usability testing of the platform. Methods and analysis We will seek user input to finalise the platform’s design, which will then be deployed in a limited launch for beta testing. The beta version will be used as a recruitment tool for up to three studies with multiple UK sites. Usability data will be collected from the three intended user groups: PwP, care partners acting on their behalf and site study coordinators. Usability questionnaires and website analytics will be used to capture user experience quantitatively, and a purposive sample of users will be invited to provide further feedback via semistructured interviews. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics, and a thematic analysis undertaken for interview data. Data from this study will inform future platform iterations. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Plymouth (3291; 3 May 2022). We will share our findings via a ‘Latest News’ section within the platform, presentations, conference meetings and national PwP networks.

Introduction:
Delays in reaching recruitment targets represent a major challenge for clinical trials. 1 A reduction in in-person clinic attendance with the introduction of new, remote care delivery models following the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this problem. 2 Parkinson’s disease (PD) trials generally do not recruit representative populations, and therefore their results are not generalisable, which risks perpetuating healthcare inequalities. 3 Strategies to improve recruitment to trials have been evaluated, but…

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