StepUp for Dementia Research, a new online service to be run by Sydney University, works just like an online dating app, drawing on personal characteristics like age, location and diagnosis to ‘match’ volunteers with researchers who are studying dementia prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care or cure.
The platform is based on a model already up and running in the UK, which has attracted over 40,000 volunteers in four years – and is designed to speed up more effective and inclusive research methods across Australia.
Dementia is the second biggest cause of death in our country, but while the government does supply consistent research funding, scientists say one of their biggest challenges is actually finding and keeping research participants.
In fact, of terminated dementia clinical trials, three in five Australian and New Zealand trials ceased because of difficulties in recruiting volunteers.
But StepUp hopes to change this by making sure that participants in dementia trials are paired with the right researchers for them, making it more likely that they’ll be comfortable staying involved.
“It will also empower people with dementia, their families, carers and the general public to make informed decisions and to have a voice in shaping the future of dementia research”, said Sydney University Professor, Yun-Hee Jeon.
Fantastic work.
