What is Health Research?
Health research is a vital process to understand illness and how healthcare is delivered to improve health outcomes. It involves studying how diseases develop, how they can be prevented, and how they can be treated or managed more effectively. Community members can participate in different types of research studies like:
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Clinical trials, which test new treatments or medications.
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Observational studies, where researchers gather data without altering the participants’ environment.
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Surveys or questionnaires, which collect information about people’s experiences, behaviors, or health conditions.
By participating, community members contribute to the advancement of medical knowledge and help shape future healthcare practices.
This short video from the National Institute for Child Health and Development can tell you more.
Learn more from our very own experts:
What is Research?
What Are the Benefits of Research?
What are the phases of a clinical trial?
Normally, new medical products go through four phases of testing. Each phase (or stage) has a different purpose and a product has to successfully pass each phase to move to the next. The primary points that are reviewed include safety and how well the product works.
PHASE 1
Phase 1 is the first time a new treatment is tried in humans, which is also known as human subjects research. The goal of during Phase 1 is to find out if a new drug or treatment is safe. Volunteers are watched closely to see if there are any unwanted effects.
Phase 1 studies usually only include small numbers of people. If the treatment is found to be safe, it can move to the next phase.
PHASE 2
Phase 2 is the first step to find out if a new treatment really works. Phase 2 trials include more people to allow researchers to see if the treatment works. Phase 2 studies are also used to find the appropriate dose or frequency of a treatment.
During this phase, researchers also continue to monitor for any side effects.
PHASE 3
Phase 3 studies are much larger studies to make sure the effect of the treatment is real and that the product is safe.
Phase 3 trials often enroll thousands of people. With a larger group, researchers can control for a lot more factors to be sure that it’s really the treatment that makes the difference. If a treatment already exists, phase 3 studies can compare two or more treatments to see which one works best.
During this phase researchers continue to monitor for safety and document any side effects. The efficacy and safety profile of the treatment is reviewed by the FDA to determine whether the product should be brought to the market for doctors to prescribe to patients.
PHASE 4
Phase 4 trials happen after a drug is approved by the FDA. Phase 4 trials continue to track safety. More information is obtained about who is helped by a treatment. This research also finds out more about risks of combining different medical treatments and products.
Summary
This step-by-step process helps make sure new medical products have the most benefits and the least risks for people. At each phase of research, it’s important to have good representation of the population.