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The James Lind Alliance process

The direction of research is often set by researchers or by the drug industry. We want to enable patients, carers, family members, and the health and social care professionals who look after those with bipolar to have their say, so that future research is aligned with what matters to everyone whose life is affected by bipolar disorder.

The James Lind Alliance (JLA) process brings patient, carer, family member and clinician groups together on an equal footing in a Priority Setting Partnership to:

identify unanswered questions about a health problem which is important to them
work as partners to prioritise the questions
produce a 'top ten' list of jointly agreed priorities as research questions to be presented to researchers and funders.

Our Project Protocol document set out the aims, objectives and commitments of the Bipolar PSP. It set out how the project meets the principles established by the JLA. Our JLA Adviser played a central role in helping the Steering Group establish this protocol and worked to ensure that accountability and transparency were maintained throughout the project.

Stage 1 - Establishing the Bipolar PSP

Steering Committee established
Protocol agreed
Partners recruited
Project management and arrangements confirmed
Initial stakeholder meeting

Stage 2 - Survey

Survey opened 7 October 2014
Partner organisations disseminated survey to members
Survey advertised

Stage 3 - Data management

Data management group identified and protocol agreed
Out of scope questions removed and collated
Questions arranged in a research question format and grouped by theme
Duplicates removed
Existing research checked
Results and process reviewed by Steering Committee

Stage 4 - Interim prioritisation

Questions sent to survey respondents, partner organisations
Respondents ranked the top 71 unanswered questions
Ranks combined
Shortlist of 35 unanswered questions produced

Stage 5 - Final prioritisation

Final prioritisation workshop held in Oxford on 14th June 2016 - Please use the link below to view or download:
- Report of Final Workshop, 14 June 2016
Workshop attended by partners and partner organisations
Top ten unanswered research questions agreed by consensus