For the past year, I’ve been quietly working away on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (also referred to as a KTP) between Manchester Metropolitan University and COUCH Health (this KTP project was co-funded by UKRI through Innovate UK and We Are COUCH). Read on to learn about what a KTP involves, and more specifically what I’m working on as a KTP Associate here at COUCH Health that could impact how we approach engaging caregivers and children in clinical research.
What is a KTP?
As described by UKRI, KTP’s involve a group working collaboratively to produce an innovative output. This group consists of three key partners: the KTP Associate, the academics, and the business. Each brings their own expertise to create an output that benefits everyone involved. As the KTP associate, I am responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of the KTP project. This includes leading monthly update meetings, conducting research and honing my project management skills. However, the bulk of my day involves reaching milestones within the workplan and creating ongoing outputs in both an academic and business context.
What have I been working on?
COUCH Health are no strangers to emphasising the importance of health equity in research, championing environments where everyone is seen and heard, regardless of who they are. The KTP I’ve been working on takes this mission to paediatric populations and their caregivers, who are often excluded from clinical research. We’re working to understand the key barriers that prevent paediatric populations from engaging with clinical research, and then to co-create guidance to help researchers address these barriers. So far, I’ve been working on two desk-based evidence reviews: a scoping review, and a systematic review. Each methodology provides benefits in gaining a “birds-eye view” of the current research landscape by summarising the available evidence. The scoping review has allowed insight into common recruitment strategies used when engaging paediatric populations in clinical research. The systematic review on the other hand is ongoing and will outline the known facilitators and barriers that influence whether caregivers and their children decide to participate in clinical research.
Following this, I’ll be leading two World Research Cafés: first with paediatric populations and their caregivers, and the second with leaders in the clinical research space. During these, we will discuss experiences and opinions of clinical research, gaining both industry and lived experience perspectives to aid in co-creating guidance for facilitating paediatric engagement with clinical research. It is an exciting phase of the project, and I am looking forward to telling you more about these findings soon!
Here at COUCH Health, we are proud to be developing our ever-growing knowledgebase to create health research that is equitable, but just like this KTP demonstrates, we must collaborate between industries to create effective change. Keep an eye out for future blog posts as I will be providing more information about the two discussed reviews and how to get involved with our World Research Café’s!
