NHS Highland and the University of the Highlands and Islands are recruiting members of the public (consenting adults aged 18 yrs+) in Inverness for a study exploring public awareness of pharmaceutical pollution in the environment, and sustainable prescribing methods to reduce environmental pollution from medicines.
What’s involved for the participants?
Once you decide to take part the team will ask you to sign a consent form to participate in one focus group. The focus group will last approximately 2 hours (with breaks), and take place in the Centre for Health Sciences, Inverness. Travel expenses will be reimbursed. It is aimed to hold it on Friday April 21st 2023.
What would happen if I took part in the study?
After you have agreed to take part in this study and signed the consent form, organisers will start the focus group discussion. No one else but the research team (members from NHS Highland, the University of the Highlands and Islands, and University of Nottingham) and other invited participants will be present during the focus group discussion. Questions will be asked about your understanding of pharmaceutical pollution in the environment, what information is needed to make environmentally sustainable choices on medicine use, and how best to engage patients in prescribing practices. You are encouraged to share your opinion. At no time will you be asked to disclose any health conditions you might have been diagnosed with, or experiences you had using a health system. The focus group discussion will be digitally recorded, anonymised, and processed by researchers from the University of Nottingham.
The benefits of taking part in the study could include:
Taking part and actively contributing to a research project that is aiming to develop new prescribing methods to reduce environmental pollution from medicine. Your participation in this study will advance understanding of patient and public perspectives on the environmental impact of medicines, and inform that the research output is suitable and meets the needs of patients. The information may help develop new sustainable solutions to reduce environmental impact from healthcare practices.
To take part or to find out more:
Please email Dr Lydia Niemi (lydia.niemi@uhi.ac.uk), a researcher involved in this study and based at the University of the Highlands and Islands. More details are available here.
This research is sponsored by NHS Highland and the University of the Highlands and Islands, and will be carried out with the University of Nottingham. It is funded by the UKRI Medical Research Council and Scottish Water.
