Research Cafés: Co-producing inclusive health research with diverse communities in integrated care systems
A new partnership has been successful in a funding bid to NHS England to co-produce inclusive research and engage with local diverse communities in southwest London to make health and care research more accessible and relevant.
The partnership, called the Southwest London Health Research Collaborative is led by the Southwest London Integrated Care Board.
It includes researchers from Southwest London's academic institutions, acute and community NHS trusts, NIHR ARC South London, Clinical Research Network South London, Health Innovation Network as well as colleagues from the South London Partnership and local voluntary sector organisations through the South West London Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Alliance.
Together the partnership aims to build local, diverse participation in the design and delivery of health and care research, across all boroughs in southwest London.
They aim to do this through piloting ‘research cafés’, an informal gathering where people can come together to discuss and exchange ideas related to research, in a relaxed and open atmosphere, usually over tea and coffee.
Research cafés provide a safe space for diverse groups to find out more about research, share their lived experience and get involved in research. They can also improve health literacy.
Using the research café model, the partnership aims to increase the diversity of public participation and involvement in research, initially in relation to mental health studies.
They will encourage local people and communities to develop the skills and confidence to become involved in and lead research themselves, building trust and improving the relevance and uptake of research findings.
As part of this work, the partnership will set up an Inclusivity Network with local communities through voluntary alliance partners to build awareness of and expand opportunities to take part in research. They will also train and mentor peer researchers to carry out future research studies.
The partnership bid was led Dr Catherine Heffernan, Director of Health Improvement at Southwest London Integrated Care Board and ARC members including Dr Josephine Ocloo, Zoë Lelliott and Dr Natasha Curran. It was successful in gaining £92,000 funding. The pilot will run until April 2024.
Aims
To understand how ‘research cafes’ can act as a mechanism for increasing the diversity of participation and involvement in research, initially in mental health. It will pilot four research cafés and draw upon the evidence to set up a Southwest London Research Support Network, with supportive peer research resources.
Principal Investigators
Senior Research Fellow
Director, King’s Improvement Science