Sharing our health information is important for mental health research. This could be medical records and/or other NHS data. Sharing information could help researchers improve mental health care leading to better treatments and care for everyone.
Some people worry that sharing data is a privacy invasion or are concerned about the safety of their data once it has been shared. Researchers are responsible for making sure data sharing is safe.
How are GM. Digital addressing this?
Across all of the projects at GM.Digital, we are required to make sure we have ethical approval. Ethical approval is obtained from relevant bodies such as the University Research Ethics Committee (UREC), the Integrated Research Application System (IRAS), and the National Research Centre (NRC) for all study activities. This rigorous process guarantees that all research adheres to ethical guidelines and safeguards the rights and well-being of participants and their data. When you are given information sheets about research studies, there should be details of the ethical approval given to the study.
Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) is central to our approach. This ensures that the perspectives and concerns of young people, families,
professionals and other relevant individuals are integrated throughout the research process, including how data is used and which data is collected.