NIHR ARC West unveils public engagement and involvement strategy
29 March 2021
The National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) has launched its public and community involvement, engagement and participation (PCIEP) strategy.
The strategy explains how the organisation will embed meaningful public and community involvement and engagement in its applied health and social care research. It will cover the five-year funding period of the ARCs, from October 2019 to October 2024.
The plans were developed by ARC West’s Public and Community Involvement, Engagement and Participation Strategy Group, which includes public contributors and researchers. The strategy will be delivered in partnership with People in Health West of England (PHWE) our regional public involvement network
It details five objectives:
To further develop and embed the public voice in all our projects and increase public involvement in the implementation of research findings.
To increase the diversity of the public and communities we work with, and to connect with under-served groups.
To develop and extend how we work with the public and communities both in terms of the depth of involvement and offering different ways of becoming involved, to remove barriers and make it as easy as possible for people to contribute.
To improve the reach of our communications into local and regional communities.
To improve capacity through a learning and development programme for public contributors, researchers, other partners and collaborators.
It also includes an outline plan for how these aims will be achieved, the partnerships that will help realise these goals, how the work will be resourced and how public involvement will be embedded in ARC West’s leadership structure.
Rosie Davies, Research Fellow in Patient and Public Involvement at ARC West, led the process of developing the strategy. She said:
“It has been an interesting and at times challenging process to agree our strategy. We have had fantastic input from our public contributors which has been absolutely invaluable, as well as great support from ARC West staff.
“We have been able to build on the work we were already doing for ARC West’s predecessor CLAHRC West. The new strategy takes that work further and offers a challenging, yet achievable, roadmap for further embedding public involvement in ARC West’s research.”
Andy Gibson, Public Involvement Academic Lead, said:
“I am very pleased to see this strategy being launched. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the process of its development, including members of the PCIEP Strategy Group. Special thanks must be extended to our public contributors and also, of course, to Rosie, who has driven this work forward with great tenacity.”