People Centred Public Health
Research
Sarah Buckland,
Director, INVOLVE
sbuckland@invo.org.uk
02380 651088
www.invo.org.uk
What is INVOLVE?
How we do it:
A national advisory group
funded by the National
Institute for Health
Research (NIHR).
Established 1996.
Supporting active public
involvement in NHS, public
health and social care
research
INVOLVE Strategy 2012 – 15
 Annual work plans
INVOLVE Members
INVOLVE Coordinating Centre
INVOLVE members
33 members
 service users
 carers
 members of the public
 researchers
 public involvement specialists
 research managers
 health and social care practitioners
 people from voluntary sector
organisations
What do we mean by involvement and
engagement?
Public Involvement
Where members of the public are actively involved in research and in research
organisations. e.g.
• involvement in identifying research priorities
• commenting on research plans and the acceptability of research to the public
• membership of steering committees
• undertaking research
Public Engagement
Where information and knowledge about research is provided and disseminated to the
public. e.g.
•science festivals open to the public with debates and discussions on research
•open days where members of the public are invited to find out about research
• using media to inform and raise awareness of research with the public
invo.org.uk
Why is public involvement important?
 Broad democratic principles of citizenship, accountability and
transparency.
 Public involvement in research can lead to empowerment for people who
use health and social care services, providing a route to influencing change
and improvement in issues which concern them most.
 Public involvement can lead to better quality research that is  more relevant
 accessible and acceptable to participants and
lead to better practical outcomes
Some of the challenges for public
involvement in public health research



Public involvement and engagement
– emphasis on engagement / communicating research findings
- terms often used interchangeably
Language and definitions of ‘public’
Not just health interventions – research often involves healthy people
who may have less motivation to get actively involved in research
Some examples of public involvement in
public health research
www.borninbradford.nhs.uk
 Watcome Study – Randomised
Controlled Trial of how housing
conditions in Torbay affected the health
and wellbeing of residents
 Born in Bradford Study - birth cohort
of 10,000 babies born in 2007, being
followed up for 20 years
 On the Buses study – public health
impact of free public transport for young
people in London.
www.lshtm.ac.uk/php/hsrp/buses/youth/
index.html
How best to involve the public?
• Involve people as early as possible
• Be clear with the people you want to involve
• Be accessible
• Resource the involvement
• Offer training and support
• Clarify organisational responsibilities
• Document and record involvement in your research
INVOLVE Strategy
Influence
research
POLICY and
PRACTICE
Develop
CAPACITY and
CAPABILITY
LEAD across
the National
Institute for
Health Research
Build and
share the
EVIDENCE
BASE
Leading on public involvement across the NIHR and
influencing research policy and practice
Supporting NIHR e.g.

Public involvement in research
funding decisions

Public involvement in research
funded by the NIHR Research
 Plain English summaries
NIHR wide approach to Learning
and Development
 Principles
involvement
and standards for
Influencing policy and practice
e.g.
• Regulation of research
e.g. Health Research
Authority (HRA)
• Payment
e.g. Payment guidance
•
International e.g.
Denmark and
Netherlands
Building and sharing the EVIDENCE BASE – e.g.
invoNET
http://www.invo.org.uk/invonet/
A network of 200+ people with a shared
interest in researching nature, extent and
impact of public involvement in research.
Evidence Library
http://www.invo.org.uk/resource-centre/evidencelibrary/
An on line database of 200+ lay summaries of
reports on the nature, extent, impact of public
involvement.
Examples of public involvement
User controlled research, social care research,
impact on the quality of research, examples of
involvement in research design.
Developing CAPACITY and CAPABILITY – e.g.
Sharing knowledge and
experience:
• Responding to enquiries
• Newsletter and email alerts
Resources:
• Briefing Notes for Researchers
• Public Information Pack (PIP)
• Training and support for public
involvement
• Involvement cost calculator
Databases and maps:
• Putting it into practice database
• People in Research database
• invoDirect
People Centred Public Health
Research
Sarah Buckland, Director
sbuckland@invo.org.uk
02380 651088
www.invo.org.uk