That Rotorua people are helping researchers from New Zealand and the United States conduct research with direct benefit to people here and overseas?
Because so many GP practices belong to the Rotorua Area Primary Health Services (RAPHS) and keep their patient records in such orderly fashion on the group’s well-secured computer network, it is easier for researchers to ask for patient volunteers to take part in studies.
It is also easier for individual patients to quickly find out the results of the health checks (e.g. neurological, ophthalmological) done at no charge for patients participating in the studies – and for Rotorua as a whole to learn and benefit from the overall results.
During 2007-08, 100 Rotorua residents aged 75 or older are being interviewed for a University of Auckland study on how to grow old. And, in another research project, 1800 Rotorua people of all ages are being recruited for a US-led study on sustained exposure to hydrogen sulphide, which occurs naturally in Rotorua’s active volcanic area.
We are delighted to be facilitating part of the research for these two projects and look forward to being involved in many more research projects in the future.
For more information on these two studies, click here