Driving with Diabetes – The role of eye movements in driving performance in people with diabetes

I am a visiting PhD student from Italy, hosted for 6 months at the School of Healthcare Science, Manchester Metropolitan University to undertake a research project looking at eye movements during driving in people with type 2 diabetes.

I had a very short period to recruit a lot of people with type 2 diabetes and Research for the Future helped me to do just that. I told them the inclusion criteria, invitations were sent to potential volunteers and within a few hours I began to receive a number of enquiries from willing participants.

I found this to be the most straight forward method to recruit participants to a research study that I have experienced. It combines professionalism, competence and utility, all words that perfectly reflect the aim of undertaking research. What is more, Research for the future does not leave out the words: humanity and kindness.

Talking about a volunteer “database” could suggest something anonymous, ‘just a number’. This is not the case with the Research for the Future database. It hides a world of generous people who are ready and willing to help researchers unconditionally. One participant said to me, “you are helping us”, but the reverse also is true – participants help every day by being part of Research for the Future.

I want to express a huge amount of thanks to the Research for the Future team for the support I have received. They are always ready to listen and respond to the researcher’s needs. Last but not least, thank you to all the volunteers who have actively taken part in this research study to ultimately improve quality of life for people with diabetes.

Monica Perazzolo