Project PRESTIGE-AF: Escape the Clinic!

Project PRESTIGE – AF: Interactive escape room

On World Stroke Day, we are shining a light on two European research projects focused on innovation in stroke.

Our second project is PRESTIGE-AF, an EU Horizon 2020-funded project led by Imperial College London, that set out to tackle a complex research question: Should stroke survivors with atrial fibrillation (a heart condition that causes an irregular heartbeat and raises your risk of a serious stroke) who have experienced a stroke caused by a bleed on the brain receive blood-thinning medication?

The answer could impact stroke treatment for many patients, but explaining the complexity of this research to the public is not always easy. To engage them with the research, the research team created ‘Escape the Clinic!’, an innovative pop-up escape room designed to make learning about clinical trials more accessible and fun.

The activity had participants racing against the clock to enrol a patient in a clinical trial, while learning about the importance of trials, how they work and their potential impact on stroke treatment. Their escape room was featured at 12 events across Europe from February 2023 to August 2024, including our own European Life After Stroke Forum in Dublin, with over 500 people taking part.

At the heart of the experience was a vital message: clinical trials are crucial for new treatments and ultimately in improving the quality of care for stroke survivors.

“Our goal with Escape the Clinic! was to make complex stroke research accessible and engaging for everyone. By using an interactive escape room, we were able to not only educate participants about clinical trials but also highlight the critical role research plays in improving stroke care and outcomes,” said Harry Jenkins of Imperial College London.

“We included Escape the Clinic! at the European Life After Stroke Forum in Dublin in March this year, and it was a great success. It drew in stroke survivors, academics and healthcare professionals to engage with stroke research in a really interesting way. By making complex research concepts more accessible, we could inspire more stroke survivors to take a more active role in shaping the future of their care,” said Arlene Wilkie, Director General of Stroke Alliance for Europe.

If you are interested in learning more about the design of the escape room activity, what the team learnt from running this programme, or want top tips on how to design and run something similar yourself, check out the full case study below.

PRESTIGE-AF has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 754517.