A day in the life of a volunteer
In the majority of studies, much of your time is your own.
At certain times of the day, you will be involved in study procedures carried out by our experienced medical and nursing staff. This will usually involve taking your blood pressure, blood samples and recording ECG’s.
You are under expert care 24 hours a day, but you generally have plenty of time to catch up on some rest in bed, chat with other volunteers, play pool, table tennis or darts, watch Sky TV, read a book, the day’s papers, do some work on your laptop…or surf the net.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided by our excellent catering staff, and all facilities – medical and general - at the unit are of the highest standard.
Here’s one of our volunteer’s views of what it means to take part in a study…
"I know the stage that you are at… I’ve been there and made a decision. My reason for needing money was for my research, and ICON Development Solutions came to the rescue. I appreciate that it is a big step to accept being a volunteer on such studies. I can assure you it is an experience I will not hesitate to repeat again.
I found ICON Development Solutions staff very accommodating and very friendly, totally competent and professional. The studies themselves are conducted with the volunteer’s interest at heart.
When one is doing a long or short study, boredom is the biggest hurdle. When I first undertook a study, there was only one television! Doing a study now is a doddle! Particularly when you can request videos, board games newspapers, play pool, select channels on Sky TV, and sit outside in the fresh air.
I usually looked at it as a period of recuperation. Some of my colleagues brought work with them, others played a game of pool. Some studies involve being woken early, but don’t worry, you will have plenty of opportunity to catch up on your rest.
Now I sit on the independent ethics committee. I was told that my experience as a long-standing volunteer would be valuable. Any study that you may wish to participate in, even before being finalised on paper, is scrutinised thoroughly by the ethics committee with the interest of the volunteer in mind.
These are professional people, quite separate from ICON Development Solutions including doctors, pharmacists, legal people, a nurse and non-technical people like myself. Therefore, hardly anything passes without question.
I hope I have been helpful to you in making a decision, and hope to see you on a study soon."
Mr N.B., Former Volunteer and Ethics Committee Member.