Communications and Engagement
Our aim is to involve patients and the public in health and care research studies from all cohorts and communities across the South West Peninsula. We have a particular focus on engaging with underserved populations and those with protected characteristics who are less likely to be involved in research.
We do this through:
Training and co-ordinating Research Champions – public contributors who help to raise awareness about the CRN and research study opportunities in their communities across the South West Peninsula.
Co-ordinating and delivering the Regional Research Roadshow – a series of co-produced ‘pop up’ events to raise awareness and opportunities for the general public in areas of little or no research engagement across the South West Peninsula.
Additional collaborations, projects and the growing of networks and opportunities in non–NHS settings and across sectors to share information and improve knowledge about health and care research opportunities.
Co-ordinating with the PPIE Leads in Partner Organisations across the LCRN to ensure that good practice is shared and that the PRES survey reaches as many people as possible.
Delivering the 'Research Ready Communities' project – a community engagement project in a targeted underserved community to train Community Champions from that community and work with community organisations already in that area to improve engagement with health and care research studies.
Increasing the number of ‘sign ups’ to the ‘Be Part of Research’ + ‘Join Dementia Research’ research registries through events, talks, liaison with other organisations and promotion.
Liaising with other parts of the NIHR in the region including the Research Design Service (RDS) and Applied Research Collaboration (ARC), as well as linking with activity in Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and Local Authorities in the SWP.
Engagement resources for primary care
A range of resources are available for practices to download/print, to help inform and engage patients and visitors about research.
Patient Research Experience Survey
The Participant in Research Experience Survey is a nationwide survey that all LCRNs undertake throughout the year. It enables research participants to reflect on their experience of taking part in research studies, and offers the only national metric for this kind of information for the Clinical Research Network, which gets reported to the Department for Health and Social Care.
One of our roles, therefore, is to achieve target numbers of responses of the Participant Research Experience Survey for the LCRN, which are set annually by the national Coordinating Centre. These are gained through a workstream that is co-ordinated with Partner Organisations. Results go through a series of data analysis and cleansing checks, and national reporting and uploads are completed quarterly. We then also work with Partner Organisations and study teams to use the survey responses to improve experiences for study participants.
Join Dementia Research (JDR)
Join Dementia Research is a registry to support dementia research. The goal is to make it possible for anyone and everyone who wants to be involved in dementia research to get the chance to, which will help to improve our understanding of dementia, as well as shape services and treatments available to patients in the NHS. Meeting the Department of Health and Social Care 2020 Dementia Challenge objectives.
Please promote JDR on your practice website: Join Dementia Research (JDR) website
Be Part of Research
You can use Be Part of Research to search for a study that you may want to take part in.
Please promote Be Part of Research on your practice website: Be Part of Research Website