Public Involvement and Engagement
Our vision from our strategy is:
Where meaningful public and community involvement and engagement is a central part of NIHR ARC KSS’ health and social care research activities.
It is important to us that the people at the heart of our health and social care research have a say in how that research is identified, designed, and carried out.
Your views and experiences matter. They bring perspectives that academics or service providers may not have. When everyone's ideas and insights are brought together, they can lead to a high-quality, relevant, and usable research evidence - helping to improve health care, and wellbeing across Kent, Surrey, and Sussex.
What is Public Involvement in research?
Public involvement in research is referred to as research being carried out 'with' or 'by' members of the public rather than 'to', 'about' or 'for' them. It involves collaborative working with our public partners, working together to ensure that the voices of local people are at the heart of our Health and Care research.
It is different to research participants taking part in a study.
What is Engagement?
By this, we mean reaching out to individuals and communities to create opportunities for a two-way exchange - sharing information, listening to ideas, and having meaningful discussions to help shape research. Engagement is about building working relationships based on trust, respect, and collaboration.
Who can be involved in our research locally?
Anyone who lives across Kent, Surrey or Sussex, regardless of your level of experience or education. We work with a diverse community of people from different backgrounds and of all ages. For more information click here.
Anyone can be involved with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Be Part of Research. For more information and to register please click here.
