The James Lind Alliance
The James Lind Alliance (JLA) brings together Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) made up of patients, carers and clinicians who work to identify and prioritise ‘evidence uncertainties’ in a given area of research. This means they identify questions that have not been answered by research which are important to the people who are most affected by a given condition or illness. Health research funders are then made aware of the topics that matter most to the people who are most impacted. The JLA is a non-profit making organisation.
Priority Setting Partnerships
Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs) allow healthcare providers, patients and carers to collaborate to establish what key questions might be answered by research in certain areas of health and care. The PSP is responsible for its own funding and administration and the JLA supports the PSP with an advisor. PSPs provide a valuable opportunity for patients, carers and healthcare providers to shape the health research agenda to suit real-world needs.
The Top Ten
The goal of a PSP and the focus of the final workshop is to identify the Top 10 research priorities. You can visit the JLA website to see a list of all Top 10s alongside the year they were published.
While the JLA uses the term ‘Top 10’, some PSPs do not limit their priorities to ten, and all of the unanswered questions identified by a PSP are important. Some PSPs have shared more details about the 20 or 30 questions that were discussed at the final workshop with an explanation and notes on their ranking.