Today marks 6 years of Join Dementia Research, a national service that offers an easy way to register your interest in taking part in vital studies that are developing effective treatments, improving care and hopefully one day finding a cure.
The service was launched by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland, Alzheimer's Research UK and Alzheimer's Society and has now recruited an incredible 50,000 sign ups and 48,000 enrollments! Rather than slowing down over the pandemic, the last 12 months have seen the highest figures ever with over 16,000 enrollments onto studies.
Since Join Dementia Research began six years ago, volunteers have helped to contribute to some significant findings. Perhaps the most notable is the finding that Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug 'Aducanumab' demonstrated a slowing in the decline of cognitive ability. The approval process for this drug is on-going, but the initial findings are really encouraging and around a third of the study participants were Join Dementia Research volunteers.
Alzheimer Scotland's Chief Executive, Henry Simmons said
Henry Quote
Alzheimer Scotland are very proud to be part of Join Dementia Research which has been one of the most successful UK wide dementia research collaborations of its time. In 6 years the number of people signing up has been remarkable, driven by a strong clear vision that enables people to take part in research, we cannot thank these people enough.
We should rightly celebrate these milestones but it's equally crucial we continue to encourage as many people as possible to sign up and help deliver our shared goals for prevention, improved practice and treatments and ultimately find a cure.
Continuing
Anyone can join dementia research (as long as they are over the age of 18) including people who are not living with dementia, those who are, and carers.