Challenge
Research recruitment can be both expensive and time-consuming. Recruiting a large enough cohort can also be difficult. A UK government agency is investigating ways to improve how research data is collected and wanted to test how mobile technology could help.
Solution
The agency set up a challenge for their staff to walk 10,000 steps each day over a two-week period, with the application recording the number of steps each participant made. Once the data was captured it was encrypted and sent securely to the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA), a body of the University of Leeds, where it was then reviewed.
The agency was delighted with the success of the pilot trial study and the application. It showed that e-consent is a viable option for the research sign-up process and reduces the time spent on a traditionally paper-based process. Recruitment was also streamlined. Participants could easily download the application from a link and begin tracking information without any specialized equipment.
Outcomes
The pilot study’s success was recognized by senior stakeholders, including the Department of Health. The study concluded that using mobile technology for research is more efficient both from the researchers’ and participants’ perspectives and will be something the agency will look to explore further in the future.