Australia is a world leader in health and medical research, however an ongoing research barrier is the slow recruitment of research participants across the country.
Increasing community involvement in medical research is a key goal for the government’s “National One Stop Shop” for clinical trials.
Research registers are a proven way of connecting patients and researchers, but these registers typically address specific diseases, focus on people attending metropolitan centres of excellence, and can be difficult for patients to navigate.
Disease-agnostic research registers offer participants of all types a single point of access to research.
Aims
Join Us is a not-for-profit, disease-agnostic health research register dedicated to connecting everyday Australians with meaningful research opportunities.
Join Us aims to achieve better health and wellbeing for the Australian community by removing a major barrier to the recruitment of participants and facilitate more rapid translation of new interventions from research into practice.
Join Us will strengthen Australia’s research sector by enhancing opportunities and investment for research in the country, as recruitment efficiencies provided by the register are recognised.
Methods
Join Us is open to all adults living in Australia.
By joining the register, via a simple online form, individuals provide basic demographic and health information and consent to be contacted about relevant research opportunities.
Researchers with their own ethics approval will be able to apply to use the register to find participants matching their eligibility criteria.
The Join Us register connects the Australian community with relevant research studies, making it easier for researchers to find participants while giving people the opportunity to contribute to important health research.
