You might think that health and care research only involves people with particular illnesses or conditions. However, most research also needs healthy volunteers to take part.
Healthy volunteers are people who are completely free of disease or not known to have any condition relevant to the health research. Each study has its own guidelines as to who can take part.
Healthy volunteers help researchers better understand health conditions, because their information can be compared with people who have those conditions. They also play an important role in studies which are looking at ways to prevent certain illnesses or health conditions, either using medicines or other methods.
Studies that need healthy volunteers range from clinical trials of new drugs or vaccines to large population studies that look for genetic causes of disease. They can include studies looking at changes in lifestyle, or at people’s experience of caring for loved ones with health conditions.
Taking part in research as a healthy volunteer will help other people. Though as you’ll see from the stories below, there can be unexpected benefits for you as well!
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Sophie: I definitely have a better diet now
Sophie took part in the Harvest study, which is open to vegan or vegetarian women over 18, in good health with a regular menstruation cycle, who live within 40 miles of Norwich.
“I’m lucky in that I’ve always been healthy, so I never really thought about taking part in research myself. I’ve been vegan for many years, but I wasn’t particularly careful about what I ate. Then I saw a trial asking for healthy vegan volunteers to test the impact of diet on levels of iron and vitamin B12. I decided to sign up. As well as supporting the research, I thought I might learn some useful information about my own diet. And that’s what happened.
“For the trial, I had to cook meals from a specific recipe app. I also had to grow and eat leafy, iron-rich plants, such as spinach and rocket, that were fortified with iron and B12. I was given equipment to do this. It let me grow the plants in water, with additives to boost the nutrients. It involved quite a bit of work over around 4 months! I had lots of blood tests as well.
“I don’t know the final results yet, as the trial is still recruiting. But I do have a better diet now, as I learned lots of new meals to cook. It was also reassuring to find out that my iron and B12 levels are generally okay.”
Jackie: why wouldn’t you get involved? .png?language_id=1)
Jackie (pictured right with her son Leighton) and her late husband had been participating in UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database and research resource, for over 15 years when he was diagnosed with oesophageal and stomach cancer. This motivated Jackie to become even more involved in research as a healthy volunteer.
“If I can help just one person by joining a trial, then for me, it’s worth it.
“The first trial I did was comparing one of the new Covid-19 booster vaccines with the old ones. I don’t know which vaccine I got – but it didn’t bother me in the least. I went to a nearby hospital for 7 visits, to be checked over, with blood tests, the lot. It was great – it felt like free extra healthcare!
“I also took part in a dementia trial as a healthy volunteer. I had my sleep monitored at home and did various memory tests. I slept with a cage on my head for a week – and I don’t sleep well at the best of times. But the research team spotted that my pulse rate varies through the night and I was referred to a specialist. Being checked out for that was reassuring.
“For me, it’s simple. Why wouldn’t you do it? I say to people – how do you think we got paracetamol and all those other drugs? If people don’t put themselves forward, then we won’t have new treatments in the future.”
We need more healthy volunteers to take part in studies
Professor Phil Evans, Associate Director of Health and Care Research at the NIHR Research Delivery Network Coordinating Centre, said: “I’m always so impressed by how many healthy people take part in studies primarily to benefit others. To reduce the pressure on our health system, we really need to be preventing, rather than just treating, diseases. This means that healthy volunteers will be needed more and more.
“Everyone, whatever their age or background, can take part in research as a healthy volunteer, at any stage of life. You might be a mother who has just given birth, a parent of a poorly child, or someone caring for elderly relatives. All of us in the NIHR are really grateful to everyone who gets involved.”
Here are some trials currently recruiting healthy volunteers:
- Curious about Care – helping to develop ways to identify people with the right attributes to recruit as dementia care workers (UK wide recruitment) Recruiting until July 2025.
- A healthy volunteer study testing the effectiveness of a needle-free test for the diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency (inability to make cortisol) (Sheffield). Recruiting until December 2025.
- Feasibility and Acceptability of Scalable Tests (FAST) Brain study – testing blood tests and cognitive tests for dementia (Multiple UK Sites). Recruiting until December 2026.
- A study to assess several different treatments that may be useful for patients with Covid-19 – (Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton). Recruiting until July 2025.
How you can get involved with research
Sign up to Be Part of Research to be contacted about a range of health and care research. Or check out our full list of studies to see if one is right for you.
And if taking part in a study doesn’t feel right at the moment there are other ways to get involved in research.
