How does a Priority Setting Partnership work?
All Priority Setting Partnerships follow the same method, set by the James Lind Alliance.
First of all, we asked everyone affected by psoriasis - individuals who live with the condition, their families and friends, and the healthcare professionals who treat them - to give us three 'questions' about psoriasis and its treatment that they feel need to be researched. There were 819 respondents who in total submitted 2,185 questions!
Next, with the help of the PSP steering group, the questions were checked to ensure they had not already been answered by existing research. Similar questions were grouped together and the wording was summarised. As a result, a list of 55 questions was produced ready for the second (shortlisting) survey.
In the second survey, respondents were asked to choose a maximum of 10 questions that mattered to them the most from the shortlist of 55. This survey closed in August 2018.
After the results from the second survey had been gathered, people with psoriasis, their families, and healthcare professionals were invited to a workshop in September to discuss and rank the most popular questions from this survey, producing a final 'Top Ten' list. The final list of 'Psoriasis Top 10' research priorities was published on Friday 2nd November 2018.
What did the surveys involve?
The first survey closed in November 2017. This gave respondents the opportunity to submit three questions of their choice that they thought future psoriasis research should focus on answering.
The second survey closed in August 2018. In this survey respondents were asked to choose up to ten questions about psoriasis and treatments that matter to them the most from a list of 55 questions.
What if questions were submitted that had already been answered by existing research?
For any questions which were found to have been answered by existing research, we asked relevant organisations and healthcare professionals to think about ways to better communicate this information to others.
What will happen to the results of the PSP?
The PSP was completed in November 2018, when the 'Top Ten' priorities for psoriasis research, agreed by people who are living with psoriasis, carers and health professionals, were published. This list of priorities will help to inform researchers working in the area of psoriasis, so that, in future, work is done in areas that are deemed most important.