For people who look after someone

Paid research for carers,
fitted around caring.

If you look after someone, you probably know more about how the NHS, social care and the apps meant to help actually work than the people designing them. We are Participation Studio, a UK research company, and we want to hear from you. Free to join, paid from £27.50 an hour, by voucher.

Join The Collective How it works

Sessions £27.50/hr minimum

Remote sessions, no travel

Diary studies up to £125

Why we want to hear from you

You are the one who sees how it really works

You are the one chasing the prescription, sitting through the discharge meeting, filling in the forms and working out the app at eleven at night. The people designing those services rarely hear from you, because most research panels lean towards people with plenty of free time.

We run research for NHS teams, health researchers, medical device makers and the companies building health and care technology. A lot of it needs carers specifically, and carers are among the people we find hardest to reach.

That includes studies looking for people caring for someone with dementia, after a stroke, at risk of falls, or coming home from hospital after a hip or knee operation. But carers of anyone, for any reason, are welcome.

Join for free

Hospital discharge and recovery at home

What happened, what you were told, and what you wish someone had said.

Health and care apps

Booking systems, medication reminders, monitoring devices and the portals you log into on someone else's behalf.

GP, hospital and social care services

Getting appointments, carer's assessments, respite and the paperwork in between.

Built around your week

Taking part when you are already stretched

Nobody caring for someone has a spare afternoon. So we make as much as we can work from home, in small pieces, at times you choose.

From home

Many sessions are video or phone calls, so there is no travel and often no need to arrange cover.

At your own pace

Diary studies run over days or weeks, with a few minutes here and there whenever you get a moment. They pay up to £125.

When you are free

Tell us your usual availability, evenings included, and we match invitations to it.

Everything up front

Every invitation says how long it takes and what it pays before you decide. Saying no never counts against you.

Life happens

If something comes up on the day, tell us and we will try to rearrange.

Paid quickly

An Amazon or Love2Shop voucher, your choice, by email within a few days of your session.

Who you will be talking to

Our own researchers, not a marketplace

We design and run every study ourselves, so the person who invites you is the person you will talk to. We only invite people we think fit, so you will not spend your evenings on screeners for studies you then miss out on. More on how The Collective works.

Questions carers ask

Before you join

Do I need to be registered as a carer, or get Carer's Allowance?

No. If you regularly help someone who could not manage without you, because of illness, disability, age, their mental health or an addiction, you are a carer as far as we are concerned. You do not need a carer's assessment, a carer's card or any benefit to join.

I work as well as caring. Can I still join?

Yes. Lots of carers also work. Many of our sessions take place over video, and you can tell us when you are usually free, evenings included, so we match invitations to the time you actually have.

Can the person I look after take part too?

If they are 18 or over and would like to, they can join with their own account. Some studies want to hear from a carer and the person they support together, and when that is the case the invitation will say so.

Will research vouchers affect my Carer's Allowance or other benefits?

They might, so it is worth checking before you accept. We cannot give benefits advice, but the Carers UK Helpline and Citizens Advice can. We always tell you the exact amount before you agree to take part, so you have what you need to ask.

What if something comes up and I cannot make it?

Let us know as soon as you can and we will try to rearrange. We know caring does not run to a timetable. Remote sessions are usually the easiest to move.

Is what I tell you about the person I care for kept private?

Yes. We use your profile only to match you to studies, and we never share anything that identifies you, or the person you look after, with our clients. You can update or delete your profile at any time.

If you are looking for support with caring itself rather than research, Carers UK and Carers Trust are the places to start.

Find out more

How it works Who we want to hear from What the research looks like Work in care? Professional Panel

Paid research for carers, fitted around caring.