In the latest instalment of our public involvement blog series, we’ve decided to share some top tips for public involvement from researchers who have been awarded our public involvement fund.
Timing
Start early! Planning, preparing, and undertaking good public involvement requires thought and effort. It’s likely that you will hit a few stumbling blocks along the way, particularly when it comes to recruiting public contributors, so. it’s important to start early and allow much more time than you think you will need.
Communication
Be informative. Provide your public contributors with information about the nature and scope of their involvement: this might include information about the reasons for involving public contributors and the aspects of the study to which they will contribute. It could also include information about the support available, such as training and payments. This kind of information delivered clearly helps ensure that public contributors have a clear understanding of what their involvement will entail. Remember, public involvement is a two-way conversation – you should be open to evolving and tailoring your plans in light of the conversations you have with your public contributors.
Be inclusive
Create an accessible and inclusive space. Make sure your public involvement opportunities are accessible to the public contributors that you want to engage. This involves things like: thinking through logistical issues such as the time and the location of a meeting, thinking about the most appropriate format (e.g. 1:1s or group work?), and whether certain settings may or may not give your public contributors the space and capacity to express themselves. For example, when involving children, would a mixed group of parents and children curtail what the children might want to say, or would such a setting help the children articulate their views and stimulate interesting dialogue? Both could be true. It depends on contextual factors such as the topic of research, age of the children, and personalities. Think carefully about what’s most appropriate for your study and be open to the possibility of multiple formats.
Structure
Think about the structure of your meeting. Having an agenda with a set of points you want to cover with public contributors helps to keep a meeting focused. But you , don’t have to be too rigid. It’s important to allow room for dialogue to flow, so your public contributors can share their perspectives and generate new and interesting ideas. When thinking of how to structure conversations, you may want to do a slide deck presentation with pre-defined questions. Activities such as card-sorting exercises can also work well. You may just want to come with some concrete questions to spark discussion.
Ask for help
Think about co-facilitation. Consider the option of bringing in someone else to help facilitate discussions. This could be an experienced facilitator who is skilled in managing the flow of discussion and eliciting the voices of different people., or it could be an extra pair of hands (such as a colleague), so that one person can focus on questions and answers while the other can take detailed notes.
Talk to us
Client feedback is an invaluable part of shaping the service RDS London offers. What have you learned from your public involvement activities and contributors? Let us know via email or on Twitter using #PPITips
You can also read more about remote public involvement in this RDS Public involvement during a pandemic blog from 2020.
