In today’s healthcare environment, patient empowerment is a top concern. Pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers often tout it, advising patients that they can and should be directly involved in deciding on their treatment options. Even the government is actively encouraging patient choice and working to educate people on how they can select their own GPs, hospitals, consultants, and treatments.

Cancer remains the second largest cause of death in the UK. While diagnosis and treatments continue to improve thanks to the work done by world-leading researchers and specialist experts, there is still much to learn, and a very long way to go, before we can completely defeat this dreadful disease.

One scientific area that may yet prove to be highly influential in discovering a cure for cancer is cancer stem cell research. One place dedicated to pioneering, world-leading research and improving our understanding of the role cancer stem cells play is the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute.

Wearable technology may be relatively new, but it’s already having a huge impact on the healthcare industry. From sensors that monitor blood pressure or predict heart attacks, to those showing surgeons how many steps patients take after cardiac surgery, patients and clinicians are already seeing big benefits. Something that looks likely to continue.

What these innovations can achieve in the future seems limitless. Those in the know anticipate massive growth in wearable technology over the next few years – some estimates predict the global market will be worth over $6 billion by 2018.

Over a third of the wearable tech used today is health related, largely thanks to widespread diabetes and an aging global population. Those are some big numbers, so it’s no surprise the healthcare industry is at the forefront of exploring the possibilities of this imminent boom. 

To the uninitiated, healthcare may not seem like a fast-moving area. After all, the NHS is the largest employer in the UK so it would be logical that it would take a long time for such a big ship to change course.

In practice, however, this perception could not be further from the truth and the NHS is in an almost constant state of flux. Keeping up with the shifting sands of healthcare can seem like a full-time job, so we offer a quick snapshot of the most important recent changes.

As market researchers, we’re always on the look out for new ways to collect data more effectively and improve our healthcare fieldwork – the industry’s been that way since taking its tentative first steps back in the early 20th century.

This constant drive to evolve means market research has seen lots of ground-breaking innovations over the past 100 years or so. Now, we’re wrestling with the best way to use one of the newest kids on the block – neuroscience.