Billy Hopkins, Research Practitioner in Public Health, shares his experience, learning, and top tips, from setting up a Journal Club with colleagues from Harrow Council.
Through NIHR HDRC Cumberland, Cumberland Council aims to increase research capacity within the council and conduct new research with local communities about health inequalities. Developing a comprehensive training programme for colleagues, elected members in the Council and local community organisations has been an essential part of increasing research capacity.
To ensure that the 75 councillors in Rhondda Cynon Taf have a strong voice throughout the development of the HDRC, RCT County Borough Council have set up an Elected Members Reference Group. The purpose of this group is to champion the work of the HDRC, represent the voice of elected members in contributing to the development of projects and funding bids and offer insight, advice, challenge and support to the HDRC team - providing a direct interface by which the team can seek feedback on plans and ideas.
A Research Awareness Workforce Survey was carried out across the whole of the Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) workforce in mid-2023.
They over 200 responses which provided a great picture of the levels and types of research activity that local authority colleagues are involved in, and how they can support colleagues to be more research active.