Calling participants to sign up for HealthWise Wales study

Posted December 16th 2016

HealthWise Wales is a research study to understand the health needs in our population and help with the planning of healthcare services for the future.

What’s the problem?

In Wales, we have an ageing population, one in three of us have a long-term health condition or disability and many people are living with multiple long-term health conditions. We have a high prevalence of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity, which are all risk factors for chronic diseases. Research is needed to find new approaches to prevent and treat long-term health problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health conditions and dementia. However this type of research requires large numbers of people to take part and researchers often find it difficult to find people to take part in studies.

HealthWise Wales will create a register of potential participants for research studies. By collecting information on lifestyle, health and wellbeing from the people living in Wales, we can study the environmental, social and biological causes of diseases and illnesses such as depression, and test the effectiveness of new treatments and other types of support aimed at improving health and wellbeing. We can all take part in HealthWise Wales whether we are healthy or not, and by taking part we can help researchers to do the studies that can make a difference to our nation’s health and wellbeing. 

How to take part

You can help by signing up online or by phone to say that you are willing to take part in research. This takes no more than 10 minutes. HealthWise Wales will let you know when there are new studies for you to join: you choose whether to take part or not. You will be contacted every six months to ask you to complete short questionnaires about your health and wellbeing and get your views on healthcare related topics. For more information please visit the HealthWise Wales website.