McGrath Carmel, Lasseter Gemma, Hopewell-Kelly Noreen, Anderson Emma, Brooks-Pollock Ellen, Christensen Hannah, Denford Sarah, Essery Rosie, Dawson Shoba, Schiller Evelyn, Silvonen Taru, Stokes Christina, Thomas Amy, Thomas Clare, Gibson Andy
NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Behavioural Science and Evaluation, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK.
Health Expect. 2024 Dec;27(6):e70114. doi: 10.1111/hex.70114.
There are many recognised benefits of public involvement, including more relevant research. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the existing health inequalities and disparities in access to care and treatment for under-served groups, necessitating meaningful and sustainable approaches to engaging them in health research. However, there is limited guidance to suggest what groundwork and processes are necessary for initiating such projects. This paper outlines the practical approaches taken to initiate a community involvement project scheme and offers key recommendations from this work.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit established a community involvement scheme in 2021, funding four community involvement projects enabling researchers to engage with under-served communities. Reflections were captured through regular quarterly meeting group discussions, meeting notes and email correspondence.
The paper presents the steps taken to initiate a scheme that provided funding for a diverse range of projects working with under-served communities. The projects demonstrated the value of allocating time to build relationships and trust, maintaining flexibility, and providing short-term benefits such as remuneration and training to the community.
This paper has highlighted the need for research organisations to allocate funding and resources within their infrastructures for building trusting relationships with community leaders and communities.
This paper has outlined the steps undertaken to engage with under-served communities to bridge the gap between public health research and those communities. We present key recommendations to guide future initiatives aspiring to engage under-served communities in health research.
Public contributors have been involved in all of the four community involvement projects mentioned in this paper. Two public contributors are also co-authors and have provided input to the writing and review of this manuscript.
公众参与有诸多公认的益处，包括开展更具相关性的研究。新冠疫情凸显了现存的健康不平等现象，以及服务不足群体在获得医疗保健和治疗方面的差距，因此需要采取有意义且可持续的方法让他们参与健康研究。然而，关于启动此类项目需要哪些基础工作和流程的指导却很有限。本文概述了启动社区参与项目计划所采取的实际方法，并提供了这项工作的关键建议。
国家卫生与保健研究机构（NIHR）健康保护研究部门于2021年设立了一个社区参与计划，为四个社区参与项目提供资金，使研究人员能够与服务不足的社区进行接触。通过定期的季度小组讨论、会议记录和电子邮件通信来收集反馈意见。
本文介绍了启动一个为与服务不足社区合作的各种项目提供资金的计划所采取的步骤。这些项目展示了分配时间来建立关系和信任、保持灵活性以及为社区提供报酬和培训等短期利益的价值。
本文强调了研究机构需要在其基础设施内分配资金和资源，以便与社区领袖和社区建立信任关系。
本文概述了为与服务不足的社区接触以弥合公共卫生研究与这些社区之间差距所采取的步骤。我们提出关键建议，以指导未来旨在让服务不足的社区参与健康研究的举措。
公众贡献者参与了本文提及的所有四个社区参与项目。两名公众贡献者也是共同作者，并为本文的撰写和审阅提供了意见。
