Engaging people with

medical researchClaire Bale

Head of research communications and engagement

Parkinson’s UK

Parkinson’s UK

Who we are and what we do…

Better treatments

and a cureEmpowerment

to take control

Quality services

as standard

My talk today

Communicating our research strategy

Better treatments and a cure

Our 2015-2019 strategy marked a

step change in our approach to

research.

We needed a communications

approach to match.

Challenges

• Science is complex

and abstract

• ‘Strategies’ are dull

• Needs to work for

multiple audiences

• Needs to have

longevity

“Drugs to minimise symptoms

are good - in so far as it goes.

“My late husband was

diagnosed in 1975 at the age of

33 and was told there would be

a cure in 5 years time!!! What

happened then!!!”

Where we started

“What we need is

something to halt

progression or ideally cure

the disease altogether

reversing the damage

already done... c'mon - a

real breakthrough is long

overdue!”

How we worked

Research

Digital

transformation

and

communications

Fundraising

A communications framework

Proud of our achievements

UrgentInspirational

Transformational

Cutting edge

Focused

Strategic

Bold

Authoritative

Credible

Creating the core elements

GRAPHICS

To depict the research

journey, from an initial

scientific discovery to a

new treatment and what

we’re doing to speed things

up.

DESCRIPTORS

We created short and long

descriptors to explain each

stage in more detail and

depth.

Better treatments, faster

Bringing the strategy to lifeFundraising

On our websiteMagazines…

And we’re continuing to

develop the story…

What have we learnt?

• Working in a truly collaborative and integrated

way is hard… but it pays off

• Creating a ‘back story’ to our work is helping

us communicate about research more

coherently and consistently

• Research strategies don’t have to be dull!

We’re the Parkinson’s support and

research charity. We’re committed to

finding a cure and improving life for

everyone affected by Parkinson’s.

Visit the CharityComms website

to view slides from past events,

see what events we have

coming up and to check out

what else we do:

www.charitycomms.org.uk

Creatives Group

18 January 2017

London

#charitycreative

Transforming dry facts

into materials that

engage and inspire