New online tool helps identify good health research

8 August 2016

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have unveiled a free online tool to help people better 

understand health research.

The interactive Understanding Health Research service will allow people to "go beyond the headlines" in the media to find out which stories are based on good research.

Health research in the media

Although health research appears in the media almost every day, it can be difficult to know which studies are good quality.

This free service is designed to help people make up their own minds about the health research they come across.

Dr Beckie Port, Senior Research Communications Officer

This online tool aims to help people "ask the right questions" to "understand and evaluate" health research.

It's designed for a range of people including patients, carers, students, policymakers, health professionals and researchers.

The site guides users through, asking a series of questions and explaining why the answer to the questions matter.

At the end of the process, the user is provided with a summary of their answers so that they can use these to come to their own conclusions about the research they've been looking at.

Understanding Parkinson's research

Dr Beckie Port, Senior Research Communications Officer at Parkinson's UK, explains:

"We regularly hear from people affected by Parkinson's asking questions about research they've seen online or in the media.

"Engaging people with Parkinson's with current research is hugely important, but when you read a news story it can be hard to know what stage the study is at or if the research is good quality.

"And unfortunately this confusion about what makes good research can potentially be exploited.

"This free service is designed to help people answer these types of questions and make up their own minds about the health research they come across."

http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/news/8-august-2016/new-online-tool-helps-identify-good-health-research