Living in and around Glasgow/Lanarkshire? Participants needed for Focus group 10th Oct 5pm

[Clare-NRAS]

NRAS have been asked to make you aware of an opportunity to take part in an important piece of work being carried out in Lanarkshire. Please read the request below and if interested please contact the organisers directly DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS THREAD AS THE ORGANISER WILL NOT SEE YOUR RESPONSE.

“Asking the right questions?”

Invitation to participate in a patient focus group 10th October 5pm – 7.30pm

We are very keen to hear the views of people with rheumatoid arthritis on whether we cover all the issues you would like to discuss during a rheumatology clinic consultation. The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) have kindly agreed to help us distribute an online survey on this subject to a large number of their Members and we’re writing to you to ask whether you would be interested in helping with the development of the design of the survey.

The survey will ask about what happens during current rheumatology consultations, whether this addresses all the important issues and will also ask about the use of patient reported outcomes (PROMS) to guide treatment decisions. We would like the survey to be as relevant to patients’ needs as possible, so are hoping that patients will be actively involved in the development of the survey and the interpretation of the results. We are hoping to meet with a small focus group of people with rheumatoid arthritis to discuss the content and structure of the survey.

Once the survey results have been collected, we would like to meet with the group again to discuss their interpretation of the results and what implications this may have for future rheumatology consultations. These views will be included prominently in the final survey report which we anticipate will be of great interest and relevance to rheumatology specialists and patients alike. If the survey demonstrates that people with rheumatoid arthritis feel that the use of PROMS should have a greater emphasis during rheumatology consultations we hope that the focus group members will be able to stay involved in the process of designing clinical studies to investigate this area further.

Initially, to discuss the content of the online survey, we are hoping to bring together a focus group of 6-8 people with rheumatoid arthritis. The group will meet with ourselves at Wishaw General Hospital in Syndicate Room 2 in the Ronald Miller Education and Training Centre, Level 0, Wishaw General Hospital between 5pm and 7.30 pm on 10th October. Light catering will be provided. The venue can be accessed by wheelchair and we can assist with arranging transport and travel expenses if needed. Once the survey results are available, we will meet again at Wishaw General Hospital (date to be arranged) to discuss the results and the content of the report. The focus and content of future projects will be decided once the results of the survey are available.

If you would like to make a contribution to our better understanding of the important issues facing people with rheumatoid arthritis, and which issues we should be focusing on during rheumatology consultations, we would like to strongly encourage you to consider taking part in the project. If you are interested in taking part, or would like some further information, please either email: [e-mail] or telephone: [phone]

We look forward to meeting and working with you soon

Best wishes

James Dale

Rheumatologist

Laura Connell RheumatologistResearch Nurse

Suzanne Clements NHS Lanarkshire NHS GGCNHS Lanarkshire