Faluyi David, Ovseiko Pavel V, Dziedzic Krysia, Scott Fay
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS, UK.
Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
Res Involv Engagem. 2024 May 7;10(1):44. doi: 10.1186/s40900-024-00569-z.
While there has been a long recognition of the importance of race equality in health and care research, there is a lack of sustained action among research funding and research performing organisations to address racial equality in public involvement. This paper describes how the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) convened a Race Equality Public Action Group (REPAG), which co-developed with public contributors and stakeholders a Race Equality Framework - a tool for addressing racial equality in public involvement.
The REPAG, through meetings and discussions, defined the focus of the Framework, and developed an initial draft of the Framework. Public contributors identified the need for broader consultation with other public members. Three community consultation events with a total of 59 members of Black African-, Asian- and Caribbean-heritage communities were held to seek their views on health and care research generally and on the draft Framework specifically. The draft Framework was modified and piloted among 16 organisations delivering health and care research. Following feedback from the pilot, the Framework was modified and prepared for publication.
The Framework is designed as a self-assessment tool comprised of 50 questions pertaining to five domains of organisational activity: 1) individual responsibility, 2) leadership, 3) public partnerships, 4) recruitment, and 5) systems and processes. The questions were co-designed with REPAG public members and provide key concepts and elements of good practice that organisations should consider and address on their path to achieving racial competence. The accompanying materials provide implementation guidance with 20 detailed steps, case studies of actions taken in seven pilot organisations, and links to additional resources. The pilot demonstrated the feasibility of conducting a meaningful self-assessment over a period of three months and the usefulness of the results for developing longer-term action plans.
The Framework represents the first self-assessment tool for addressing racial equality in public involvement. Co-design with REPAG public members enhanced its authenticity and practicality. Organisations in the field of health and care research and any other organisations that use partnerships with the public are encouraged to adopt the Framework.
尽管人们早就认识到种族平等在健康与护理研究中的重要性，但研究资助机构和研究执行组织在解决公众参与方面的种族平等问题上缺乏持续行动。本文描述了英国国家卫生与保健研究机构（NIHR）如何召集了一个种族平等公共行动小组（REPAG），该小组与公众贡献者和利益相关者共同制定了一个种族平等框架——一种用于解决公众参与方面种族平等问题的工具。
REPAG通过会议和讨论确定了该框架的重点，并制定了框架初稿。公众贡献者指出需要与其他公众成员进行更广泛的协商。举办了三次社区协商活动，共有59名来自非洲裔、亚裔和加勒比裔社区的成员参加，以征求他们对一般健康与护理研究以及该框架草案的意见。该框架草案在16个开展健康与护理研究的组织中进行了修改和试点。根据试点反馈，对框架进行了修改并准备发布。
该框架被设计为一种自我评估工具，由50个与组织活动的五个领域相关的问题组成：1）个人责任，2）领导力，3）公共伙伴关系，4）招募，5）系统与流程。这些问题是与REPAG的公众成员共同设计的，提供了良好实践的关键概念和要素，组织在实现种族能力的道路上应予以考虑和解决。随附材料提供了20个详细步骤的实施指南、七个试点组织采取行动的案例研究以及其他资源链接。试点证明了在三个月内进行有意义的自我评估的可行性以及结果对制定长期行动计划的有用性。
该框架是首个用于解决公众参与方面种族平等问题的自我评估工具。与REPAG公众成员的共同设计增强了其真实性和实用性。鼓励健康与护理研究领域的组织以及任何其他与公众建立伙伴关系的组织采用该框架。
