Building engagement as a Local Authority Research Practitioner 

Initial conversations with colleagues have identified a range of opinions and experiences of engaging with research activity and have already highlighted where action can be taken. 

Following concerns that sometimes local authority staff were expected to give time to academic research for free, a plan has now been put in place to create a Research Policy that includes a section with clear guidance on how much it costs for local authority staff to be included in research bids.

An important part of the role of a LARP is to build the confidence of colleagues, so they believe they are the right people to undertake research, and they are best positioned to identify the gaps in knowledge, and what’s needed, as they are the closest to the work.

As part of this, it has been important to take a wide view of research to ensure this is relevant to local authority colleagues. By looking at this as ‘creative or systematic work to create new knowledge’, Paige has been able to generate excitement and interest across Kent County Council.

Some potential areas of new research include:

• Mapping and evaluating interventions to support the sexual health needs of university sex workers in Kent, with a focus on improving access to reproductive health services and understanding the broader policy and safeguarding implications.

• Empowering Gypsy, Roma and Traveller women’s health - a culturally competent approach to increasing cervical screening uptake.

• ‘Upskilling frontline workers for inclusive research’ – partnership with Reach out and Recover (a substance misuse and addiction service).

Some colleagues have been particularly passionate about the potential for research and have become research champions who can help to spread enthusiasm for research in their directorates.

Over the next year, Paige will be supporting colleagues to develop their research ideas and apply for funding.

Wider engagement

In addition to internal engagement across Kent County Council, Paige has also reached out to voluntary and community sector organisations and the wider community by attending events run by different council directorates.

This allowed Paige to build relationships and promote the support available to those interested in research. Stalls at local conferences hosted by Active Kent and Medway, the Community Research Engagement Network conference and a local Suicide Prevention Conference have been very effective for grassroots engagement, with over 100 people attending a Kent and Medway joint research collaboration conference organised by the Kent County Council public health research team.

Voluntary and community sector organisations have responded positively to the opportunity to engage with the public health research team, and several new collaborations and projects have been identified. One planned collaboration will focus on increasing the representation of people with lived experience of substance misuse in public health research through a co-designed training offer. The programme aims to equip those with lived experience with the skills and confidence to move from being participants in research to become leaders, advocates, and changemakers, and to shift the public health research landscape towards one that is more inclusive, equitable, and responsive to real-world challenges.

The NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health delivered by Newcastle University and Partners has invested over £2.5M into local authorities to fund LARPs and supported over 50 LARPs across England.

For more information on the work of Kent County Council, please contact phresearch@kent.gov.uk.

This learning story was prepared with support from NIHR RSS Specialist Centre for Public Health delivered by Newcastle University and Partners. With thanks to Kent County Council for providing the content.