The recent Oxford Pride event featured a parade through the city and a festival in South Park. It was an opportunity for people to come together to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion.  

Colleagues from the Trust’s Mental Health and Memory and Cognition Research Delivery Teams (RDT) and OH CRF spoke to visitors on their stand about their perceptions of mental health research and what could encourage them to volunteer for a study.

Colleagues provided information to a diverse range of attendees about current research studies, as well as handing out hundreds of Pride flags, pens and pronoun badges.

In preparation for this year’s event Jannet Perez-Gonzalez, Nurse Associate in the Mental Health RDT was joined by OH CRF colleagues to make flowers out of coloured paper to wear as hats and decorate the stand. The coloured paper used reflects the Pride rainbow logo.

Angela Conlan, OH CRF Public and Patient Involvement, Engagement and Participation Lead, who was on the OH CRF stand said: “It was wonderful to return to Oxford Pride this year, where we continued to highlight the important research delivered by the Trust and OH CRF.

“We had the pleasure of meeting many attendees who were keen to learn about the latest advancements in mental and cognitive health and expressed interest in participating in our studies.

“Our research teams were on hand to share insights and engage with the community. We are already excited about coming back next year!”  

Visitors to the stand were invited to provide feedback on their awareness of research and what they have learnt about research from colleagues on the stand.

Some questions and responses included:

What would make you want to volunteer for a research study? 

• Reassurance it won’t cause harm (e.g. side effects to medication)

• To know that we’d hear the results of the overall programme

• Improving future patient outcomes

• Helping future patient outcomes

What do you think about when someone says, “mental health research”? 

• Underfunded

• You don’t hear about them a ton

• Underfunded and crucial thank you

• It’s not widely advertised

Have you learnt anything surprising about our research today? 

• AI can be used to diagnose memory issues