Transcript for the audio file – ADVANCE staff talking about the ADVANCE Study.
Speaker 1 – Emma
Hi, my name is Emma Cody and I’m the senior project manager in the ADVANCE Study.
Speaker 2 – Mel
Hello, I’m Mel Chesnokov and I’m the research coordinator of the ADVANCE study.
Speaker 3 – Seamus
Hi, my name is Seamus. I’m the senior clinical research nurse for the ADVANCE Study.
Speaker 4 – Sarah
My name is Sarah and I’m a research assistant on the ADVANCE Study.
Speaker 1 – Emma
So, ADVANCE is a unique research study. We’re following up a group of guys who served in Afghanistan, investigating the long term physical and psychosocial effects or battlefield injury. The study is unique as we are collecting lots of data at intervals and can see why someone may go on to have both physical and mental health issues whilst others don’t.
Speaker 2 – Mel
1,200 eligible men who deployed to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2014 have been invited to take part in the study. We are looking at the long term psychological and physical impacts of battlefield injury on those who were injured and Casevaced from theater and also looking at the comparisons between this injured group and a group of men who deployed to Afghanistan but who were not injured.
Speaker 4 – Sarah
Taking part in ADVANCE involves essentially having a health MOT six times over a 20-year period.
Speaker 3 – Seamus
Our clinical day consists of several clinical tests that include fasting bloods, heart rate recording, 6-minute walk test, DEXA body scan, X-rays of the hips and knees, and a hearing test. We also ask our participants to fill out a few health-related questionnaires. We also provide a full breakfast that includes hot bacon and egg sandwiches, endless supply of tea and coffee and biscuits, and the day is really informal, and we’d like to think we’re very friendly.
Speaker 4 – Sarah
There’s going to be such a wealth of information that will have such a wide and important impact for military personnel, injured now and in the future. But also, what we can learn from ADVANCE might have an even wider impacts in helping those in a non-military context as well.
Speaker 1 – Emma
In the future, we hope that the information we gather from ADVANCE can feed into policies. So, we want to really understand how combat injury affects people, and really, without that evidence, it’s very hard to get funding targeted to where it’s needed.
Speaker 2 – Mel
It’s so important that we do understand exactly what the trajectories of some of these injuries are long-term. And also, that we inform and help people to understand that the study is there to give them some feedback on their current bill of health.
Speaker 1 – Emma
No one else is doing this type of study and there’s a lot of interest in this study, and that’s always a good feeling, to be part of something that’s going to make a difference. It also excites me that we help serving personnel and veterans who are our participants on the study. It’s nice if we can make them feel they belong to this cohort, this group of guys who are really making a difference.
Speaker 2 – Mel
One of the things we’ve always striven to do is to keep in touch with our participants. We’ve got an active Twitter account, an active Instagram account. We have an inbox on our Facebook page at ADVANCE Study DMRC and we keep in regular contact with our participants via newsletters. It’s not just us as academics thinking, OK, we need to look at cardiovascular disease or osteoarthritis, but actually what’s important to you as veterans, as participants in ADVANCE, for us to look at, for us to study.
Speaker 4 – Sarah
It’s been a real privilege to work on the ADVANCE Study and to meet our study participants and hear their stories. And it’s been really exciting to be part of such a significant study. I think it’s important to ensure voice is given to those injured in combat and to use what we’re learning about them to improve understanding and the support and care available.
Speaker 1 – Emma
We really do get a lot of positive feedback and that feels good. You know, we want people who are giving up their time for us to go away feeling they got something out of the day. I want them to feel that it was worth their while, they get something from it, and also they know they’ve contributed to what is a unique project.
Speaker 2 – Mel
So, on behalf of the ADVANCE Study, all our staff and all our participants, I would like to say thank you for your service and for everything that you have done for our country.
Speaker 1 – Emma
I wish there was a better way to say thank you for everything that you do in the Armed Forces, because the two words ‘thank you’ just do not seem enough.
Speaker 3 – Seamus
Yes, I’d like to say a big thank you to our participants for giving up their time to attend their study visits. Without them, the study wouldn’t happen. So once again, a big thank you to them all. I’d also like to thank our Armed Forces who are behind ADVANCE and continue to provide ongoing support. So once again, thank you to our participants and thank you to the Armed Forces.
Speaker 4 – Sarah
I just want to say a big thank you to all those who are serving and have served in the Armed Forces for all that you have done and continue to do and also thank you to all the military families out there – the partners, spouses, children, as well as the parents and siblings of military personnel and all the extended family and friends who together have such important roles in the Armed Forces community.
Speaker 2 – Mel
I think that was quite nice – I feel like a DJ!