Introduction to health and care research

If you're new to health and care research and you want to find out more, we offer a range of support and training to help you.

What is health and care research?

Health and care research focuses on exploring and enhancing different aspects of health and care. These include patient care, disease prevention, and overall health.

Health and care research aims to:

improve healthcare outcomes
enhance patient wellbeing
influence health and care policies

Health and care research helps develop evidence-based solutions to challenges in the health and care sector.

Where to start

Introductory courses and resources

Explore free online courses and information to introduce you to health and care research.

Your path in research

Find out how to play an active role in research to help you gain new skills and make a real difference to patients, service users, carers and the public.

Involve patients

How you can encourage more patients and carers to be part of research to improve future health care and treatment.

NIHR Evidence - research summaries

Read summaries of important research studies and topics. They can help you make informed decisions about health and care.

More information

Support by profession

Explore support and information tailored to your profession

Extra funding for health and care professionals

Find out about new opportunities to help you develop your research career.

Embedding a research culture

How we work with health and care organisations and the NHS to improve the environment for health and care research in England.

Making a difference stories

From research to impact: read stories of how we make a difference.

Low-cost blood drug saves thousands of trauma patients’ lives

Results from the NIHR-funded CRASH-2 trial of tranexamic acid to control trauma bleeding have led to a worldwide change in practice and continues to drive wider use.

Stories

Optimising the wider impact of NCVR in secondary care

Explore how Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and its Clinical Research Facility is embedding National Contract Value Review (NCVR) and optimising the opportunity it presents.

Stories

Why NCVR is a 'no-brainer' for general practices seeking to deliver commercial research

Learn why Cripps Health Centre signed up to the UK-wide voluntary scheme for GPs to accept prices generated by the UK interactive Costing Tool as part of the National Contract Value Review process.