Birmingham and Cambridgeshire - can you help?

Hi everyone,

I am a researcher at a small consultancy called Medical Device Usability. We are based in Cambridge, England and perform usability tests on medical products. We put new or enhanced medical products in front of users, patients, clinicians, carers and ask them to use them. It is very much like using mobile phones - we look to what you find easy to do, and what is difficult. The testing is all about making sure the product is easy to use, and this is our aim.

At the moment, we are engaged with an enhancement to an existing product that it sometimes used by people with Parkinson's. It is an infusion pump system which delivers a continuous dose of a drug that assists in alleviating some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. We want to find out whether some new enhancements really make a difference and make the product easier to use.

What is involved?
This research study is a series of one-to-one interviews. We need to evaluate the infusion pump with the following people who have late stage / advanced Parkinson's disease -
• Current users of apomorphine via infusion,
• NOT current users of apomorphine by infusion, but may be users of apomorphine by intermittent injection instead.

Dates:
The study takes place NEXT WEEK as follows -
• Birmingham - Monday 11th March from 9am-9pm,
• Cambridge - Thursday 14th March from 12pm-9pm.

If you decide to get involved..
• You will be paid an amount for your time and travel. This is approx £50-80 per person.
• You will be required to attend interviews at a research centre in Edgebaston, Birmingham or at The Cambridge City Hotel, Cambridge - this is your choice.
• The interview will take about 1.5 hours in duration.
• You should bring along a carer, family member, spouse, partner or child if you wish to (this is totally your decision).
• If you need to take medications at a set time (routine), and the test session coincides with this routine, then this is perfectly fine and can be accommodated during the test session.
• You will be asked to sign paperwork and the interviews will be recorded for research purposes. A two-way Confidentiality Agreement ensures anonymity and security.
• You will be asked to give your opinions on using the infusion pump and we will be asking you to perform some simple tasks such as holding it, carrying it and storing it.

Travelling to the interview..
Ideally, you will be able to travel to both venues using the bus, car, taxi or train. The Birmingham venue is 'The Conservatory' which is in Calthorpe Road, just off the "Five Ways" roundabout. This venue is on a bus route and there is adequate free parking on site if you come by car. Taxi's are able to drop you off outside the front door with ease. The Cambridge venue is in Downing Street, Cambridge, and is again easily accessible by bus, train or taxi. There are multiple car parks in the Cambridge to choose from also.

We are looking for as many participants as possible to complete this research, so do feel free to pass this link on to anyone you think will be interested. If you are interested, please contact Sally Featherstone on 0845 475 3310 or please email her at "[email protected]".

This project is being supervised by Greg Thay and Sally Featherstone, both of MDU. This research has been approved by the Berkshire Research and Ethics committee.
Thank you in advance,

Greg Thay & Sally Featherstone
Medical Device Usability.

This post has been authorised by the Parkinson's UK research admin.
Hi everybody,

Update on this research:

The date in Birmingham is now next Monday 18th March 2013.

If you live in a commutable distance to Birmingham and are free between 9am and 9pm next Monday, we would love to hear from you.

Please see below for more details.

Best Regards,

Greg Thay (Researcher)