NIHR unites with health and social care leaders to improve public involvement in research
Date: 25 March 2022
Funders, regulators and research organisations who play an important role in UK health and social care research have come together, working with members of the public, to sign up to a bold new shared commitment to improve public involvement in research.
The NIHR and the Health Research Authority are working with a host of organisations to bring about changes that will drive up standards in health and social care research.
The shared commitment aims to address the gaps identified in leadership and communication by bringing patients and public contributors and leaders in health and social care together to set out the importance of public involvement in all health and social care research.
The statement has been co-produced with members of the public, patients and service users. Ifeanyi Sargeant an NIHR public contributor said: “Ultimately, research aims to ask the right questions to get answers for problems and challenges we face. But how to know which questions to ask and what is most important or meaningful to address for people with health or social care needs? The only way is to ask the people affected what they struggle with and what they need. That’s why public involvement in research – right from the initial ideas through to practical implementation – is vitally important. If we don’t ask the right questions then we can never hope to deliver the right answers and solutions that can improve lives.”
The statement, signed by leaders at each organisation, can be found here.
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