Tracey Cridge, 55,
lives with her husband in the Yate/Coalpit Heath area of South Gloucestershire.
She has lived in this area her entire life and has had asthma since she was a
child.
Her local GP surgery
is West Walk Surgery, Yate, that is renowned for its success in undertaking
commercial clinical research.
Could you tell me how
you found out about taking part in the research studies?
I think it was Dr Davies who wrote me a letter to ask
whether or not I would be interested. Some literature was also sent about the
study for me to read. There was no pressure or anything about taking part in
the study. It was just a matter of reading through the information I was given
and if I was interested to give Dr Davies a call back, which is what I did.
Could you tell me a
little bit about your condition and what it is like to live with your
condition?
Compared to some patients I am quite lucky as long as I
stick to using my inhaler. Most of the time I am okay however in the winter my
asthma tends to develop into a chest infection and I get quite poorly then. Over
the last couple of years it has tended to get a bit worse, so my doctors have
tried using different inhalers at different strengths. So when I was approached
about the research study I thought, ‘Oh there might be something out there that
helps me even more,’ which is the main reason I thought you know what I’ll give that a go!
Could you tell me about
the research studies you were involved with?
I started with the asthma study where I was given a little
gadget that I was required to put information into daily. The information was
sent back to the staff at West Walk Surgery via a computer. I’m not very
technical but I was putting information in. I had a few visits and then at the
end of the study they sent out a feedback form to ask how I had got on with the
study. The visits were nothing major, really. The only major visits to West
Walk Surgery were right at the beginning and at the end. The visits really took
no time at all as most of the time they were keeping track of my health by the
information you were putting into the system.
I also took part in another trial for irritable bowel
syndrome and that trial was even more simple, really. I was given one course of
treatment for eight weeks however you don’t know what that is, it could either
be the actual treatment itself or a placebo. You then go back to the clinic and
you are then given a further eight weeks of the treatment they are trialling.
In between the trial you are given forms to complete. Taking part in this trial
was really helpful; I could tell for myself that there was a difference before
and after treatment.
What made you decide
to take part in the research studies ?
I was contacted by phone regarding the IBS study and I think
that because I had already done the asthma study I thought, ‘Why not?’. I was
also being prescribed different treatment for IBS at the time and didn’t feel
that the treatment was working. I think this is because when I was taking part
in the asthma study I found that it was keeping the asthma at bay and did the
job. But the IBS trial in my opinion worked better than the treatment I was
previously on. The asthma trial I viewed as a trial for helping other people but
the IBS trial helped me personally. The
treatment I was trialling wasn’t actually for IBS but was for patients with
diarrhoea, but they found that it was helping people with symptoms of IBS. It
wouldn’t have have been something that they would have initially given me if I
hadn’t been on the trial. So overall I was very glad I took part in the study. I
learned more about asthma and IBS from taking part in the studies, so that was
another benefit.
What were your
expectations when you were first asked to take part in the research studies?
I wasn’t nervous about taking part in the study at all. The
staff at West Walk go through all the details with you and asked if you had any
issues regarding the study. The staff are very nice and friendly throughout the
whole process. The tests that were carried out were nothing different or
stranger than normal, it was overall very relaxed throughout. There was no
pressure to take part in the trial and they reassured me that anytime I didn’t
want to take part anymore I could opt out from taking part in the study.
Overall how did you
find the experience and would you take part in research again?
Overall I had a good experience and I think that if I was
approached about taking part in other research studies I would do it again. I
was always able to fit appointments around my lifestyle and work, so yes, I
would.
Where you aware of
the opportunity to take part in research before you were approached?
No not really, before the asthma study I had never heard
about the opportunity to take part in research studies.
Do you think it is
important for people to take part in research and if so why?
I do think it’s important as you wouldn’t know about new
treatments if you didn’t do research and so it’s really important for people to
take part in research. Sometimes you may get an opportunity to take a course of
treatment you wouldn’t have originally have been offered. It could potentially
be given to patients in the future. I’ve said to other people with health
conditions that research might help them. I know time is precious to people but
you don’t have to go up to the clinic every day, most of the information is
collated from home. I know it may not affect me so much but say for example it
was someone who was worried about fitting appointments around their children,
it really doesn’t take a lot of your time. I found the whole experience of the
trial to be really convenient.
Would you recommend
taking part in research to others?
Yes I would. I normally talk about taking part in research
at work and people seem to really be interested. My family have never really
heard of or known anybody who has taken part in research before, neither have
my work colleagues really. I had heard
about research being done within hospitals but I never knew research could be
carried out through your local GP practice and health centre that is until I
was approached about taking part in the studies.
What would you like
to see for the future of research and healthcare?
That research continues and is more visible so that people
realising that it is going on.
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