Work Begins on next phase of Join Dementia Research
Date: 30 May 2023
Work has now begun on the next phase of Join Dementia Research (JDR), to improve its capabilities and function for volunteers, health professionals and researchers.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is working with a software company, Kainos, to build a new system for the registry. A key aspect of this work will involve integrating the system with volunteers’ electronic health records, so that it can link in with broader datasets across health and social care.
Kainos has considerable experience of developing public sector digital infrastructure and working with health data. The organisation has worked on a number of national projects, including the development of the NHS app.
The initial phase of the project began on May 22. A large portion of this exploratory work will involve research with existing users and those who have no previous involvement with JDR. It will also look at current capabilities and constraints for the system. Previous feedback and discussions on Join Dementia Research will also be incorporated into this phase.
With a better understanding of user needs from the initial phase, the project will then move into the testing and learning phase on July 17, which will include drawing up a new service blueprint for Join Dementia Research that will describe the user journey and how the improved service will support this. From there, the project will move into the next phase, when the new system will start to be developed and tested with volunteers and researchers.
A launch date for the new system has not yet been announced, but development of the new Join Dementia Research project is expected to continue into next year. Once the current work has been completed, a delivery plan can be drawn up detailing what needs to be built and a time scale.