1 Dr Lythgoe, M; 2 Wighton, K; 3 Neal, D; 4 Dr Hood, G; 5 Dr Abraham, S, 1 NIHR/Wellcome Trust Imperial CRF Clinical Fellow; 2 Communications Manager North West London, NIHR Clinical Research Network; Patient and Public Involvement Manager; NIHR/Wellcome Trust Imperial CRF; 4 Workforce Development and PPIE Lead for NIHR NW London CRN (Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust) 5 Consultant Rheumatologist and Senior Research Physician Imperial CRF INTRODUCTION  Achieving patient and professional participation in arthritis trials has been a persistent obstacle to innovation and evidence-based practice [1,2]  It is likely that patients with arthritis are willing to engage in clinical research but are unaware of the research opportunities or relevant clinical trials  To Increase awareness and reduce stigma associated with early clinical trials, arthritis patients were invited to attend a research engagement and involvement day in collaboration with arthritis charities. METHODS  To gauge impact of the educational event, participants were asked to complete a pre- course and post-course questionnaire  The questionnaire asked participants to rank on a scale of 0 (unlikely) to 10 (very likely) around topics of arthritis research including:  Current engagement, research awareness, willingness to participate  Participants were also asked about current ‘unmet needs’ in arthritis research RESULTS TIMETABLE OF SESSIONS REFERENCES [1] Blanch, D. et al. Predictors of refusal during a multi-step recruitment process for a randomized controlled trial of arthritis education. Patient Educ Couns 73, 280–5 (2008) [2]Bower, P. et al. Interventions to improve recruitment and retention in clinical trials: a survey and workshop to assess current practice and future priorities. Trials 15, 399 (2014) Questionnaire score: 10 = Very likely to engage in arthritis research 0 = Unwilling to engage in arthritis research  Intervention showed a significant increase in patient/healthcare professionals willingness to engage in arthritis research  Intervention showed a significant increase in awareness of arthritis research Questionnaire score: 10 = Very aware of current arthritis research 0 = Unaware of arthritis research CONCLUSION  The NIHR overarching vision is to see ‘more patients and health professionals participating in health research’  Engaging patients/health professionals in arthritis research days may be an opportunity to improve health research participation and innovation  Research engagement and involvement days may be useful in other disease areas where patient recruitment is problematic SessionDescription What is Clinical Research? Overview of clinical research and its importance Arthritis Research – A Patient Perspective A patient experience of arthritis research  Opportunity for questions and discussion What is a Clinical Trial? Describing the basics of a clinical trial.  Followed by a practical demonstration of a clinical trial (using chocolate!) Current Research Areas in Arthritis Research Current areas (existing and planned) of arthritis research Workshop: Unmet needs in Arthritis Research Small group working (led by disease specialists) to identify unmet needs in arthritis research.  Larger group discussion of ideas Keeping in touch with Arthritis Research Ways to keep in touch and stayed involved with arthritis research