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A new series of training sessions about public involvement and community engagement in health and social care research have just been launched.

The sessions have been organised by Creating Connections – a regional network for all those involved or interested in public, patient or community engagement – and will be led by involvement and engagement specialists from across the country.

The sessions are aimed at anybody interested in public or patient involvement in health and social care research, including members of the public and professionals. 

15 September: Public involvement and participation in research

This session serves as an introduction to patient and public involvement and engagement for new researchers, members of the public, and anybody interested in health and social care research. It will be run by Felicity Shenton, Public Involvement and Community Engagement Manager for the Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria, and Allison Farnworth, Patient and Public Involvement Advisor with the Research Design Service North East and North Cumbria.

Register for the Public Involvement and Participation in Research session, which takes place on 15 September at 12pm. 

20 October: How to identify, approach and engage patients and the public

This session is all about how to identify, approach and engage patients and the public in health and social care research. The facilitators are Jenny Hasenfuss, PPIE Manager at the NIHR Blood and Transplant Research Unit in Organ Donation and Transplantation, and Hannah Gray, Network Manager of the Involvement@York project at the University of York.

Register for this session on identifying, approaching and engaging patients and the public, which takes place on 20 October at 12pm. 

10 November: Research Champions and participant experience

This session is all about Research Champions and the Participant Experience. A Research Champion is a volunteer who wants to promote research in healthcare to other patients, members of the public, carers and to healthcare professionals. This session will be run by Justine Smith, Senior Strategic Manager for the NIHR Clinical Research Network North East and North Cumbria. 

Register for this session on Research Champions and participant experience, which takes place on 10 November at 12pm.

1 December: Public engagement and feedback

This session is about the value of public engagement and feedback in research. The event will be run by Charlie Wilkinson, Engagement Support Coordinator for the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University.

Register for this session on public engagement and feedback, which takes place on 1 December at 12pm.

19 January: Co-production

Public involvement in research is defined as research being carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them.

This session on co-production is run by Jo Lally, PPI Lead for the NIHR Research Design Service North East and North Cumbria, and Gary Hickey, PPI Strategic Lead for the NIHR Research Design Service South East.

Register for this session on co-production, which takes place on 19 January at 12pm.

Creating Connections has produced a series of teaser videos for each of the sessions, which can be viewed on the VOICE website. Read more about VOICE, a unique community of members of the public, patients, service users and carers, who contribute their ideas and experiences and get involved in research and innovation.